Here’s an example of one of our programs for an electro-mechanical product. While the program may vary from client to client, you can see that we follow a logical process in order to control quality and improve processes at each stage of production:

• Defining product requirements
• Planning for compliance, quality, safety, and reliability
• Monitoring during production
• Process improvement

Note that we make it clear who is responsible for each activity.

Notes: We assumed in this plan that the client already decided what manufacturer to work with. Screening & qualifying potential manufacturers is often a separate plan in itself. Also, the example shown is for an electro-mechanical product so the program would be different for automotive parts, garments, food products, etc.

A Quality Assurance program provides the following benefits:

• Know what your greatest risks are.
• Address each of these risks by mitigating them and adding controls where needed.
• Take preventive measures such as defining product specifications, clarifying your standard and explaining it to the factory staff, finding weaknesses in your product’s designs, documenting a process control plan, etc.
• Learn from issues found and implement measures to prevent recurrence in the future.
• Keep pressure on your suppliers so they don’t ‘forget’ any important topic.