Announcement
Now Available!
Get your copy of the 7th Annual State of Smart Manufacturing and hear from 300+ manufacturers in this new survey report!
Quality Management System (QMS)
Plex Manufacturing Blog
Dial in Quality with Smart Manufacturing
Traditional manufacturing has always sought to build quality into the process. Initially, these systems focused on quality control which required manual data collection and analysis and lots of inspection done by people. As systems improved, companies sought to move beyond quality control and toward quality assurance to prevent defects....
Read More
A New Look at the Cost of Quality
The cost of quality has been a manufacturing KPI for generations. By understanding the cost of waste, rework, and scrap, companies can develop continuous improvement strategies that reduce or eliminate defects.Many manufacturers rely on technology to strive for 100% quality, which lets them focus on continuous improvement and leads to significant savings when combined with the right tools and…
Read More
Plan – Do – Check – Act: An Essential Quality Management System Framework
What makes a good Quality Management System (QMS) tick?After all, you want to be able to rely on a QMS to help you achieve and maintain the highest level of quality control and quality assurance while meeting the modern needs of your manufacturing enterprise. It’s a big ask from any software system, but when your QMS employs the Plan-Do-Check-Act method, or PDCA, it can turn your current state…
Read More
Workforce, Quality, and Technology: Old Struggles, New Angles
The Precision Metalforming Association (PMA) hosted the Metal Stamping Technology Conference recently in Nashville, Tennessee. A dynamic, thoughtful, and somewhat frustrated group gathered to talk through the state of manufacturing, the biggest challenges, and how we can begin to address those challenges with technology after we’ve started taking care of people and processes first....
Read More
Your 6 Steps to Quality Management Success
Meeting customer demand, maintaining regulatory requirements, and competing in a global market all hinge on one critical aspect of your manufacturing business: product quality....
Read More
Quality Management in an Age of Disruptive Supply Chains
Once upon a time, it was easier. For decades, supply chains stabilized globally, allowing companies to source components confidently and manage their supply chain plans with Lean methodology. And while supply chain complexity increased during this time, the ability to span the globe and know their materials would arrive on time....
Read More
North American Food Safety and Quality: Your NAFS22 Recap
NAFS22 came packed with insights, ideas, and a shared call to action to achieve food safety and quality like we’ve never seen before. After days of conversations and presentations, the key question that remains is: how do we achieve this, particularly on a national and international scale? Of the many topics discussed over the last several days, these are the ones that stood out most:...
Read More
The Shift to Electric Vehicles and Its Impact on Automotive Suppliers
The inevitable shift to electric vehicles is here and its impact on automotive suppliers will be drastic. OEMs are making major commitments to reduce their carbon footprint and eliminate their internal combustion engine (ICE) fleets. General Motors, for example, has made a commitment to be completely carbon neutral in their global products and operations by 2040 and eliminate tailpipe emissions…
Read More
Are You Meeting Ford’s FMEA Quality Software Requirements?
Change can be scary, especially when you’re faced with limited time to make a critical decision. You’re under pressure and may not have time to do the due diligence you normally would in situations like this. But it’s also not a time to cut corners....
Read More
IoT Traceability Software Eliminates Surprises in Manufacturing
Many people love surprises. On birthdays, anniversaries, or holidays, they can be fun. But in manufacturing environments, not so much. Surprises here can mean missed deliveries, damaged or spoiled materials, compromised brand reputation, and even dangerous recalls. For many years, traceability within manufacturing was plagued by the same problems encountered by any analysis. Siloed data,…
Read More