We’ve been going through the gambit of points on sampling; how to make the process smoother, obstacles, when to confirm, etc… In this 3rd post on the sampling phase, let’s look at critical points during the sign-off phase.
Once you approve the sample, then provide a simple, clear-cut sign off that the vendor can’t misinterpret.
“We approve the sample as is. Please proceed with mass production” (the factory may be waiting on your deposit though to start).
But, and not to complicate the waters, sometimes the sign-off phase isn’t as black and white as you hope it will be.
In order not to over-promise or to have misplaced concepts of mass production, there are critical points to consider.
The sample process in a factory spends more intricate time on 2 unit. But the mass production workers are not able to spend that same kind of care on 10’s of thousands of units…for example. This is common when it comes to printing and coloring.
What you want to avoid is being hard-nosed and show a misunderstanding of the process. A zealous buyer may exclaim, “We confirm the sample and will accept no variations. Production must be 100% identical!”
Other sample to mass production differences are avoidable but but not worth the factory or the cost to avoid.
Rejecting these differences in mass production can cause the factory great time or cost increase. Going through batches to discard a multitude of pieces may simply not be worth it.
If the variations are reasonable and don’t hurt the product, then the factory and customer have to ask themselves, is it worth the struggle?
A factory may confirm something is unavoidable but they’re simply fudging to see how much wiggle room they have. The truth is that they simply need to tighten their control methods.
I’m talking possible variations that are avoidable, as long as the factory does their reasonable work of control.
Things happen in mass production that the factory can avoid. Don’t let them push that off as unavoidable.
Remember that factories tend to be worst-case-scenario based. They want to lower expectations and also their own efforts (save time or cost).
Post time: Mar-02-2019