5 Tips to Make Quality Control More Affordable for Your Business
Quality control can be an expensive aspect of running your own business, but it doesn’t have to be prohibitively expensive. In fact, following these five tips will help you make quality control more affordable so that you don’t break the bank while keeping your customers satisfied with their experience using your product or service.
1) Use 3rd-party QC Services
It is typical for 3rd-party QC services to charge fees for their services, but their work can also streamline communication between you and your factory. As a result, you’ll still need to conduct regular inspections yourselves throughout each month while your 3rd-party inspector is at your production facility.
You can prevent problems from going undetected until after goods have been shipped to customers by using 3rd-party inspectors regularly during production cycles. Quality control in China can save you thousands of dollars if you make a little extra effort now.
2) Creating Good Relationships with Suppliers
No one’s going to succeed at a China manufacturing operation without strong supplier relationships. It’s as simple as that. When suppliers have on-time, high quality product, meet customers’ requirements, and have some flexibility when needed, you can have confidence in presenting your products in front of customers.
But if a supplier flubs orders, doesn’t pay attention to detail, or other poor quality factors, it will eventually affect your brand. It’s not good. Though the issue of how to obtain the perfect supplier doesn’t have a one-size-fits-all answer, there are ways to lower the risk and make sure it is within your budget.
Solidify a strong relationship with your supplier to ensure things will run smoothly and that your money is better spent on quality control and less on disaster clean-ups.
3) Be Clear On Your Metrics
One important purpose of having an amicable relationship with your supplier is to ensure smooth communication with your supplier, so you can be precise about your standard of quality. You need a clear understanding of the metrics that are relevant in this process. They are not all universal but there are some standards that are considered common denominators like color, shape, and size consistency.
These qualities need to be consistent across each batch or box coming from the manufacturer because these qualities vary between different batches and boxes based on the manufacturer’s processes and equipment used. And this affects product cost and customer satisfaction; if there is variation in one area then it will lead to other areas being out of whack too!
4) Get Critical Feedback While Your Product Is Being Manufactured
A big mistake many entrepreneurs make when manufacturing a product is assuming that everyone is as invested in its success as they are, when they’re likely to be working with other people to assemble different components. Without meeting directly with vendors or having them to directly collaborate with your team, it can be hard to spot errors, such as low-quality materials or things that don’t match up correctly.
The easiest way to catch these and other errors is by asking vendors for critical feedback from suppliers or manufacturers as soon as possible during production. It’s not possible to be perfect all the time, but communication can minimize problems during the production phase, which saves time and money in the long run. So if you want to get quality control more affordable for your business, it’s essential that you plan ahead of time how to handle mistakes and issues so you can work out any kinks before production starts.
5) Be Involved in Every Step of The Way
Your involvement in the production process not only brings oversight but also enhances your understanding of your product. If you are hands-on, it will be easier to pinpoint where improvements need to be made and find the source of a problem.
You may not be able to come on site but having someone represent you there is a great way to maintain presence. A 3rd-party QC service is a great option in this case.
Invest in a good QC service and treat it like you would your own. You want someone that is not only thorough but also honest. You should expect to spend money on QC, so don’t be cheap when hiring a service provider. Remember, you are looking for a partner, not just an inspector.
Quality control is one of those things that might seem insignificant compared with overall costs and time, but it can make a significant contribution to your bottom line in more than one way. QC services in China are available at Shield Works with our own professional team members with over 17 years of experience! Don’t hesitate to contact us!