Bringing powerful connections to your supply chain pays—and it’s not as complicated as you might think. Reach out to an Elemica consultant and see how you can start transforming your supply chain today.
We’ve always been told we had to choose quality over quantity. It makes sense for the integrity of our business, and it makes sense for our customers. But what if we didn’t have to choose? What if supply chain connectivity could help us improve our quality assurance and quality control efforts while also helping us execute with more efficiency? Let’s dive into it.
Looking at your QA and QC processes, the central question will always be: How can we better protect the consistency and quality of our products and services? The key facets to any of these processes are a keen eye for detail, a high level of visibility and a desire to constantly improve. A digitized and connected supply chain can help improve QA/QC visibility by facilitating a more streamlined internal quality management process that allows a real-time response to quality challenges. It provides a wealth of information that can not only inform better decisions but also work wonders by protecting customer and supplier relationships.
Imagine being able to track material lifecycles and understand product genealogy at a glance. A digital supply chain can simplify supplier quality management, streamlining audits and allowing access to specs, shipment data, process capability index, process performance and more. This digital connection can enable more structure and prove to be an invaluable tool when it comes to assessing supplier performance—giving you the opportunity to make well-organized, data-driven decisions.
A digital supply chain can also take on the lion’s share of the paperwork. Today, automated quality functions are now possible between internal departments and trading partners, allowing for the digital approval of things like inbound or outbound product specs through what are called Electronic Certificates of Analysis (or e-COAs). These e-COAs give everyone more control over quality, reducing the back and forth and managing the material-related risk, cost and variability as they certify countless quality-specific and certification details.
The efficiency and speed at which a digital supply chain can get in front of potential issues can’t be overstated. With access to things like real-time plant data or quality status, supply chain managers can pursue quality and compliance performance at a whole new level. This increased oversight also takes the stress out of audits and audit tracking, giving instant access to supplier audit results and certifications and allowing you to plan Corrective Action Preventative Action (CAPA) in a more organized and collaborative way.
