Toyota

Toyota Woes Highlight Importance of Supplier Quality Management

That’s too bad, because one of the few good things that could come out of all of this is reminding car manufacturers, medical device makers, pharmaceutical companies, food manufacturers and a host of other businesses that supplier quality management is key to being a profitable, effective company that only gets good headlines (See box below, Sal’s Tips).

“Gone are the days when manufacturers can say suppliers can’t have an impact on their success” or, perhaps in the case of Toyota, a spectacular failure, says Dun & Bradstreet analyst Jim Lawton. He also has a background working on medical device issues with Hewlett Packard.

Lawton’s first lesson gleaned from Toyota is that companies should strongly consider focusing on their core competencies and outsourcing other stuff. For example, companies should work hard with partners to understand risk and develop procedures and programs to mitigate it.

“Unfortunately, the medical device industry is not out in front when it comes to managing supplier quality,” worries Jim. “They are all about taking out costs,” he adds. For more of his excellent insights, check out his recent interview with Industry Week .

That can be a case of being penny wise and pound foolish, agrees Sal Lucido at AssurX . ‘Supplier quality management has not gotten the attention it should, because it’s complicated; involving the processes and politics of other companies. It’s hard enough to manage your own company’s issues let alone those of your global suppliers,” Sal says, adding that he believes lessons can be learned from Toyota’s missteps.

Sal’s Tips: Lessons Learned From The Toyota Fiasco

Toyota’s pain could be others gain, IF they learn from what happened to a once-lauded manufacturer. Sal lists some lessons:

The costs associated with the loss of your company’s reputation are incalculable. Product quality includes both the actual and...

Toyota

Toyota Woes Highlight Importance of Supplier Quality Management

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