Does your company buy electrical home appliances in China? You probably have a team of quality inspectors in key areas such as Zhongshan or Ningbo.
How do they report on their inspection findings? Do they prepare a handwritten note? Do they use Word or Excel? How long does it take them, and are they well organized?
It’s possible that access to QC report software would benefit them greatly, let’s explore this…
Is it possible for manufacturers of electrical home appliances to improve quality inspection reporting?
If improving quality inspectors’ productivity and effectiveness is important to your business, modern QC report software can do this over older-fashioned methods of reporting such as hand-written notes, excel spreadsheets, etc. Here are some of the features your electrical home appliance quality inspection team would need the most in a QC report software were you to adopt using one.
Saving and re-using product checklists
Obviously, different things are checked on a toaster and on a microwave oven. Some product categories need to be distinguished, and each one should have a different checklist.
When an inspector is working, he should be able to see those checkpoints and follow them as a set of work instructions. It includes what to do, what is required, and the sampling to follow.
And then, in the final report, the findings and photos/videos should be sorted by checkpoint. This way, any reader can understand how a certain test was performed and what was found.
Many details need to be checked on each model
It is not uncommon to spend more than 5 min on one piece of electrical home appliance – for example a dishwasher or a vacuum cleaner. Many details need to be checked!
It means inspectors generally can’t check many models in 1 day of work. Well this statement is wrong – they can check many models but they can’t prepare reports on their findings.
In this situation, it is essential for your inspectors to use a mobile application that generates a QC report automatically. It eliminates all the paperwork typically done outside of the factory – typically late at night.
The need to track past issues and push for corrective actions
Just sending a “failed” QC report is not enough to push Chinese manufacturers to improve their quality in the long run. Chances are, you keep re-ordering from the same suppliers. You need them to avoid the same issue in the future!
So you need a quality inspection software that is linked to an issue tracking module. This way you have a systematic way of pushing your suppliers for corrective actions and following up over time.
Looking organized and modern in the manufacturers’ eyes
One thing SynControl’s customers often tell us is the image they have in their supplier’s eyes. Especially when they ask for a signature on a smartphone/tablet screen.
The supplier feels the buyer is better organized, and fewer issues will fall through the cracks. Inspectors feel better respected.
Ability to see the history of each inspection, step by step
Are you worried about the attitude of some of your inspectors? Would you like to know when they arrive in the factory, when they leave, and in what order they do their job?
Since the inspector follows his checklist and inputs the findings (OK, not OK, comments, photos…) as he makes process, all this is saved in a history log that can be seen by managers. This is an excellent way of ‘managing’ the field staff from a distance and getting a feel for how serious they do their work.
Good connectivity for China-based users
One final point that is worth mentioning… Most of your inspection team is probably in mainland China. If your head office is in another country, they might have a hard time getting the product files, sending reports out, and so on.
Make sure you work with a software that uses servers that allow for easy access in China.
Does all this make sense to you? Can you think of other important considerations for such a software tool for your quality inspectors? Let us know your thoughts by leaving a comment below, and we’ll be pleased to respond.
