When faced with a finished product, the customer doesn't think about the item's manufacturing or delivery processes. The only things that matter are whether the goods have quality, arrived on time, and meet all their expectations.
Anyone working in industry knows that to meet customer demands, the manager needs to closely follow all production processes. Not only that, but also monitor the teams well and, of course, perform raw material quality control.
How does your company handle this activity?
In this post we will explain what this control is and what a lack of management can cause in a plant. We will also show 5 foolproof tips for your company to put into practice and ensure highly effective management.
We hope you enjoy it!
After all, what is raw material quality control?
Raw material quality control is an activity that monitors and coordinates all the components used in production.
This control goes through different stages, the main ones being: raw material receiving, quality verification, identification of conformities or nonconformities, and feedback to suppliers.
Only after certifying the quality of the components should raw materials be sent to the warehouse or to the item manufacturing process.
What a lack of control can cause in a plant
The production process is responsible for turning raw material into finished product. If the company has no quality control over these components, it runs the serious risk of acquiring inputs without provenance, or insufficient to manufacture good products.
But losing quality isn't the only problem caused by a lack of control. The company can also suffer from:
- Loss of inputs: the shop floor tends to lose other inputs used in the same production run if one of the components is categorized as low quality.
- Wasted time and work: if the finished product has a defect due to low raw material quality, the company may have to repeat the entire manufacturing process.
- Misuse of the warehouse: the lack of raw material quality control can lead to continuous errors, which contributes to misuse of the warehouse.
- Late deliveries: with production errors, the company tends to delay the manufacture of its products and, consequently, miss delivery deadlines.
5 tips for good raw material quality control
Now that you know what raw material quality control is and what a lack of management can cause in a plant, here are 5 practical tips for highly effective management. Check them out!
- Know the origin of your raw materials
Whenever you buy inputs, it's important to perform supplier qualification and conduct research to confirm the origin and quality of the raw materials.
This action, small as it may be, can prevent a series of headaches in the long run, such as improper components entering the warehouse, production errors, and waste.
- Identify problems in your stock
The best way to prevent errors and avoid low product quality is to analyze raw materials before even sending them to production.
Ideally, stock control should always be up to date, so you can identify problems in advance and solve them as quickly as possible. Also, to prevent improper components from reaching the production process.
- Steer production according to APQP
APQP, also known as Advanced Product Quality Planning, is a practice that consists of programming all of production in order to ensure more effective processes.
It involves planning production, developing the product design, following every stage, analyzing finished items, and identifying points for improvement. If you want good raw material quality control at your company, steering processes according to APQP can be an interesting alternative.
- Plan deliveries
Planning deliveries doesn't necessarily help with raw material quality control, but it can prevent production delays and customer dissatisfaction.
Today the market is more competitive and consumers are increasingly demanding about what they consume. And this demand involves not only the quality of the products purchased, but also of the service and deliveries.
- Invest in technology to optimize management
Just like product manufacturing, raw material quality control also involves a series of procedures.
Can the professionals responsible for managing the plant do all the control manually? Yes! However, investing in technology is still the best alternative when it comes to optimizing management, minimizing errors, and avoiding waste.
Useall's integrated management software is one of the alternatives. This cutting-edge tool can help your plant monitor field and in-house teams. It can also assist with cost control, raw material management, and even results analysis.
Want to know more about how Useall's ERP can help your plant? Then click here for more details about the solution!
Originally published in Portuguese at useall.com.br.