Quality Control Gone Downhill?
Discussion
I might just be unlucky but does anyone else think the quality control on purchased goods isn't as good as it used to be?
So from recent purchases:
5.1 surround sound speaker set, tweeter not working on one of the speakers.
Blu-ray player, powered up okay but refused to open the disc tray.
Micro Hi-Fi System, admittedly a refurbished item but direct from the manufacturer, has undergone our stringent tests etc. - refuses to play a CD.
A radiator - not much can go wrong with this you'd think, no moving parts, packaging good, opened it to find it was missing an end panel.
Mostly all dealt with without a quibble, replacement item sent with no cost to me, but it's a PITA to have to arrange the return.
Proliferation of Chinese goods built to the lowest cost possible? Or is stuff just not tested properly anymore? Or rough treatment by the couriers?
So from recent purchases:
5.1 surround sound speaker set, tweeter not working on one of the speakers.
Blu-ray player, powered up okay but refused to open the disc tray.
Micro Hi-Fi System, admittedly a refurbished item but direct from the manufacturer, has undergone our stringent tests etc. - refuses to play a CD.
A radiator - not much can go wrong with this you'd think, no moving parts, packaging good, opened it to find it was missing an end panel.
Mostly all dealt with without a quibble, replacement item sent with no cost to me, but it's a PITA to have to arrange the return.
Proliferation of Chinese goods built to the lowest cost possible? Or is stuff just not tested properly anymore? Or rough treatment by the couriers?
Proliferation of Chinese goods isn’t helping
Customers not paying bills on time, so the supplier doesn’t care anymore.
QA departments along the supply chain being useless.
Inspection and testing sub-contracted back to the supplier where, of course, everything passes first time, all the time, as then the shipment can be booked with money showing as due on the accounts, thereby easing cash flow. Then sort out the rubbish later with engineering pushed hard to sign off the concessions. I’ve seen this happen so often it’s almost a given.
The goods have been knowingly made from the wrong material, but the paperwork usually follows later, its too late to do anything about it. So when that particular part of the supply chain realises it’s the wrong stuff, they issue the paperwork much later until the goods are off their premises and it becomes someone else’s fault. I’ve seen massive critical subsea components go through 11 sub contract suppliers with all of them knowing it was the wrong stuff, but none of them said anything, and just delayed the paperwork as appropriate. All supposedly high-quality and definitely high cost European engineering workshops.
And so it goes on....
Customers not paying bills on time, so the supplier doesn’t care anymore.
QA departments along the supply chain being useless.
Inspection and testing sub-contracted back to the supplier where, of course, everything passes first time, all the time, as then the shipment can be booked with money showing as due on the accounts, thereby easing cash flow. Then sort out the rubbish later with engineering pushed hard to sign off the concessions. I’ve seen this happen so often it’s almost a given.
The goods have been knowingly made from the wrong material, but the paperwork usually follows later, its too late to do anything about it. So when that particular part of the supply chain realises it’s the wrong stuff, they issue the paperwork much later until the goods are off their premises and it becomes someone else’s fault. I’ve seen massive critical subsea components go through 11 sub contract suppliers with all of them knowing it was the wrong stuff, but none of them said anything, and just delayed the paperwork as appropriate. All supposedly high-quality and definitely high cost European engineering workshops.
And so it goes on....
Companies not understanding that quality comes from a complete process attitude.
Starts with good design to build in quality, components, build process, feedback, inter department cooperation to eliminate the chance of problems.
Monitoring of their build process, close cooperation and monitoring of suppliers.
R&D and QA are often the scapegoats in cost cutting but the end result of losing quality, customers, extra costs of dealing with problems etc are ignored. Future loss of revenue and escalating customer care/ problem resolution lead to all sorts of finger pointing and blame allocating.
Starts with good design to build in quality, components, build process, feedback, inter department cooperation to eliminate the chance of problems.
Monitoring of their build process, close cooperation and monitoring of suppliers.
R&D and QA are often the scapegoats in cost cutting but the end result of losing quality, customers, extra costs of dealing with problems etc are ignored. Future loss of revenue and escalating customer care/ problem resolution lead to all sorts of finger pointing and blame allocating.
Quality control is all systematic now. There are rigid criteria, testing protocols, etc. They are all linked into the manufacturers ERP systems. These systems use data from the organisation, to decide exact numbers, and product mix, quantity that need to be produced and sold, in a given time, to maximise income, and profit. The quality control systems are inflexible, they often leave giant gaps through which crap products can get. The ‘customer complaint record’ systems / warranty / replacement refund systems are there to deal with it. The way of things now, is to send / sell batches, which have been through the rigid Q.C. Protocols, and should any crap get through, deal with it as and when. That’s progress ( apparently).
Drihump Trolomite said:
Now we've had brexit authorised, I hope to see once again "Made in Britain" as we used to on our quality products produced in Wales and other regions of the UK.
Made in Hong Kong once meant something, now it means something else.
What do you think we put on things now?Made in Hong Kong once meant something, now it means something else.
- brexit #makebritainproud #givekrankieavote
Krikkit said:
Drihump Trolomite said:
Now we've had brexit authorised, I hope to see once again "Made in Britain" as we used to on our quality products produced in Wales and other regions of the UK.
Fat chance, you wouldn't sell more than half a dozen because the production costs will be too high.GOATever said:
Quality control is all systematic now. There are rigid criteria, testing protocols, etc. They are all linked into the manufacturers ERP systems. These systems use data from the organisation, to decide exact numbers, and product mix, quantity that need to be produced and sold, in a given time, to maximise income, and profit. The quality control systems are inflexible, they often leave giant gaps through which crap products can get. The ‘customer complaint record’ systems / warranty / replacement refund systems are there to deal with it. The way of things now, is to send / sell batches, which have been through the rigid Q.C. Protocols, and should any crap get through, deal with it as and when. That’s progress ( apparently).
Most of what you say is absolute rubbish, as I suspect you already know, and I guess you made it up, and threw a few operations 'buzzwords' in to give an impression of credibility. And of course, there's the generalisation 'thing', which further casts doubt on the veracity of your claim.Quality control is now out of date, Quality Assurance less so, but in today's Industry 4.0 world, it's all about Predictive Quality Management. DFM (Design for Manufacture) is still a driver, but you can look at that through a cost lens, or a quality lens, or both.
Alas, where there is truth in your claim, is that are many, many manufacturers out there (particularly in low factor cost countries) who know nothing of, or care less about, the above. In today's price-lead consumer market, the temptation from many manufacturers (mostly of commoditised products where brand loyalty means nothing) is to ignore it, and as you say, make it and ship it, and use their customer base as a means for identifying poor quality. For them, the cost of replacement/returns is less disruptive than operating an efficient quality assurance process.
Drihump Trolomite said:
Now we've had brexit authorised, I hope to see once again "Made in Britain" as we used to on our quality products produced in Wales and other regions of the UK.
Made in Hong Kong once meant something, now it means something else.
Absolutely.Made in Hong Kong once meant something, now it means something else.
- brexit #makebritainproud #givekrankieavote
I can't wait to purchase items made to the same standards as a Land Rover.
I am currently horsewhipping my children to make them into little English capitalist artisans. Only a decade of brutalisation to go.
Have we not noticed that the prices of much of the consumer tat we buy have plummeted alongside quality?
The ultimate cost probably levels out or costs less these days.
I'll make an exception for land rovers.
Have we not noticed that the prices of much of the consumer tat we buy have plummeted alongside quality?
The ultimate cost probably levels out or costs less these days.
I'll make an exception for land rovers.
had ham said:
Most of what you say is absolute rubbish, as I suspect you already know, and I guess you made it up, and threw a few operations 'buzzwords' in to give an impression of credibility. And of course, there's the generalisation 'thing', which further casts doubt on the veracity of your claim.
The last 25 years of my working life, say different. It’s my main job, that’s how it works. If you don’t like it, tough.had ham said:
Quality control is now out of date, Quality Assurance less so, but in today's Industry 4.0 world, it's all about Predictive Quality Management. DFM (Design for Manufacture) is still a driver, but you can look at that through a cost lens, or a quality lens, or both.
Now that is a total pile of utter steaming crap.had ham said:
Alas, where there is truth in your claim, is that are many, many manufacturers out there (particularly in low factor cost countries) who know nothing of, or care less about, the above. In today's price-lead consumer market, the temptation from many manufacturers (mostly of commoditised products where brand loyalty means nothing) is to ignore it, and as you say, make it and ship it, and use their customer base as a means for identifying poor quality. For them, the cost of replacement/returns is less disruptive than operating an efficient quality assurance process.
Yes and no, mostly no. If it’s FMCG, some of that is barely right, if it’s regulated goods ( Medical devices etc) it’s a massive steaming pile of s
t.bloomen said:
I am currently horsewhipping my children to make them into little English capitalist artisans. Only a decade of brutalisation to go.
Have we not noticed that the prices of much of the consumer tat we buy have plummeted alongside quality?
The ultimate cost probably levels out or costs less these days.
I'll make an exception for land rovers.
Oh absolutely.Have we not noticed that the prices of much of the consumer tat we buy have plummeted alongside quality?
The ultimate cost probably levels out or costs less these days.
I'll make an exception for land rovers.
You only have to through the ‘Argos’ thread to see how eye-wateringly expensive household items and electronics were back in the 80’s and 90’s.
GOATever said:
Yes and no, mostly no. If it’s FMCG, some of that is barely right, if it’s regulated goods ( Medical devices etc) it’s a massive steaming pile of st.
I'm not going to bother arguing with someone who clearly hasn't half a clue what they're talking about - we both know who's the one spouting the massive steaming pile of st.te (nice turn of phrase by the way) 
had ham said:
Alas, where there is truth in your claim, is that are many, many manufacturers out there (particularly in low factor cost countries) who know nothing of, or care less about, the above. In today's price-lead consumer market, the temptation from many manufacturers (mostly of commoditised products where brand loyalty means nothing) is to ignore it, and as you say, make it and ship it, and use their customer base as a means for identifying poor quality. For them, the cost of replacement/returns is less disruptive than operating an efficient quality assurance process.
I suspect this is roughly what's happening. All the goods I had though were not unknown brands, all from companies who you would hope value brand loyalty but then again does that even really exist these days as most consumers are looking for the cheapest thing they can get that does the job they want it to do?Want it cheap
Want it now
Attitudes have a lot to answer for
I used to work for a smallish software house where our code was world class, thoroughly tested by numerous people, dog fooded, alpha beta etc on customer site
Same place now is run by money men who literally couldn’t give a toss about the future, just now now now, more more more
Very short sighted, but of course the money men will be long gone in a year
Want it now
Attitudes have a lot to answer for
I used to work for a smallish software house where our code was world class, thoroughly tested by numerous people, dog fooded, alpha beta etc on customer site
Same place now is run by money men who literally couldn’t give a toss about the future, just now now now, more more more
Very short sighted, but of course the money men will be long gone in a year
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