My Supplier Said to Me: I’m Out of Office Next Week

Man out of office on a beach holding a surfboard

On the eighth (work) day of Christmas my supplier said to me “I’m out of office all next week. Could we wait till I’m back in the office to have this conversation?” A sure-fire way to experience a quality issue is to press for a quick resolution before key people and stakeholders are out for […]

My Supplier Said to Me: Uh, We Just Finished That Batch

Stop sign affecting batch

On the seventh (work) day of Christmas my supplier said to me “We just finished that batch. I’ll have to start a new one to make that change.” You just want to issue a quick change-order, but you’re too late. Just as they receive the notification, they have just finished the batch of your parts. […]

My Supplier Said to Me: RMA? Part 2

Manufacturing worker doing inspection for RMA

On the sixth (work) day of Christmas my supplier said to me ‘Do you really think we need an RMA? You don’t really want to return it, do you?’  As I wrote yesterday, each defect, regardless of size or significance, impacts the overall success of the product it fits into. The buyer takes parts from […]