As global supply chains are still facing rising costs and logistics disruptions, the need for brands and retailers to find efficient quality and compliance monitoring increases significantly.

However, most of the companies with outsourced production, especially in Asia, are using traditional quality control methods that do not take advantage of any new technologies. In an increasingly complex and globalized world, there is an urgent need to review the way companies monitor the quality of their goods as the historical methods used can lead to problems such as:

• Producing non-standardized inspection reports that are difficult to analyze
• Inaccurate inspection methods leading to collection of unreliable data
• Slow and inefficient communication with factories to resolve issues
• Impossible to prevent product defects solely based on historical data and risk mitigation strategies
• Increase in shipping delays due to ineffective pre-shipment inspections (PSI)
• Resulting in bad customer reviews due to not identifying the defective products earlier in the process.
  

Despite a company’s best efforts, traditional quality control methods cannot prevent defects and anticipate risks within the global supply chain. To help companies achieve quality excellence, businesses need much more visibility and collaboration with their suppliers.

The Benefits of Digitizing Quality Control

Today we find ourselves in an age of empowerment and accountability facilitated by digital technologies like cloud computing, machine learning and collaborative mobile apps. By properly leveraging these new digital technologies, companies can implement new solutions to improve their quality through better collaboration. Digitizing quality control has resulted in 65% reduction in overall deviations and can prevent compliance uses, saving millions in cost. Adopting a digital quality control solution benefits all stakeholders in a company’s supply chain, starting from brands and retailers to vendors and factories. 

For Brands and Retailers

With a digital quality control software, brands and retailers can capture accurate and reliable data on the factory floor. Quality managers can exactly define the processes to follow, monitor the inspector's work in real time and receive an interactive report immediately after the inspection is done.

Traditional quality control takes significant time and resources to analyze the report and get insightful analytics. With modern digital systems, you can:

• Collect data during inspections and populate it in actionable dashboards,
• Get immediate view of your supply chain performance
• Trigger corrective actions in the event of any failures. 

The increase in operational efficiency and transparency offered by a digital quality assurance platform like QIMAone can give brands and retailers a significant competitive advantage. According to Supply Chain Digital, 90% of business believe implementing a technology for supply chain visibility is of high priority.  

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For Vendors and Factories 

Vendors and factories can also benefit from using a digitized quality control software to manage their product quality. They can:

• Measure and track all inspection reports to ensure that the production meets their clients’ quality standards.
• Identify critical defects and associated root causes through a data-driven collaborative approach.
• Collect reliable and actionable insights on quality control and production performance to showcase best track-records

Rather than filling out quality control forms using pen and paper, factory staffs are empowered with a mobile app that makes inspecting goods fast and enjoyable. Manufacturers can benefit from an increased productivity by reducing up to 80% of their manual documentation work.

Digitizing quality control, allows vendors and factories to better manage their staff performance and prevent any integrity issues. For instance, performance can be measured by tracking the time spent on each step of the inspections or by comparing borderline AQL.

How to Begin Digitizing Your Quality Control Systems

1) Onboard your supply network

With all your stakeholders in one place, you can streamline communication by identifying the points of contact, standardizing your quality assurance programs, and getting more visibility throughout your supply chain using the exact location of the factories and their individual performance. 

2) Leverage the power of data

With a digital quality control platform, like QIMAone, you can gather data at every touchpoint of your supply chain, starting from raw material plants to warehouses and retail shops. This data, combined with intelligent machine learning and automation, allows you to quickly identify loopholes and prevent anticipated risks. You can save time while you are minimizing your costs. 

3) Think long-term

The retail world is moving fast. Staying competitive requires constant innovations. The digitization of quality control systems is not a one-off implementation, but a process of constant innovation and improvement. According to a recent QIMAone survey, businesses with low supply chain digitization are twice as likely to suffer disruptions from suppliers and production partners. In other words, the investment in your supply chain today will almost certainly pay off tomorrow.

4) Rely on proven experts

When choosing your quality control software, look for a reliable solution from proven experts with in-depth industry expertise. Implementing a new system gives you an opportunity to update your current quality control processes and checkpoints to make sure you apply the industry’s latest best practices.

How can QIMAone help you? 

QIMAone ushers in the digital revolution QIMA has helped over 17,000 businesses to develop better, safer products. The digital quality management system QIMAone utilizes the newest interactive technology and hundreds of industry-proven checklists to bring quality management into the future.

QIMAone can revolutionize how your business manages quality and compliance by providing unprecedented efficiency and transparency for brands and retailers. Real-time monitoring ensures your supply chain remains visible from beginning to end. Embracing this technology will enable companies to provide better quality and service to their customers. To learn more, or to schedule a consultation with one of our experts, visit our Contact Us page today