Loading...
Answers
MenuHow to control defects in physical products?
What systems do you use to control quality in your physical product. We have a 7% return rate on one.
Answers
If you have large quantities of batch size, look into statistical process control.
If they're smaller batches, the answer seems pretty straightforward (to me, at least):
1. Map out the production process step by step. Operations, inspections, decision points etc.
2. Install a final inspection at the end of the process to accept/reject the product.
3. Look at returns and final inspections to determine the causes of failure. You should see the 80/20 Rule in effect: about 80% of the defects will be from 20% of the sources of problems.
4. Fix those 20% of the sources and clear up most of your issues. Adjust your process flowchart to match the new method. Ensure people are following the new method.
Eventually you should have an inspection done at the end of each step / beginning of the next to ensure the product does not move on unless it is correct.
I'm an operations management guy so feel free to book a call if you wish to dig into specifics.
I have been in the electronics industry for 12+ years and 8 years in China directly handling the supply chain. I gained great expertise for each step from A to Z during product design, testing and supply chain control Even the good factories may face quality issues if you don't treat well. You can start taking actions with below questions.
1- What are the return reasons? Design related, transportation or manufacturing related? Classifying the defects from the field will help you to analyze the problem faster. Assuming here the problem is related to your manufacturer so
2- If the outgoing inspection is done by the manufacturer only, you need to add a 3rd party inspection control before shipment. If you don't have your inspection team, you can find a professional 3rd party inspection service.
3- You need to increase the inspection standard and make it tighter. I believe BS6001 standard, sampling level 2, AQL Critical: 0, Major: 0.4, Minor: 1.5 can work for you. Applying these 3 parts will help you to minimize the defected products in the field. But this is not enough. You need to solve the problem from the beginning that it won't happen again
4- For each defected unit ask an 8D report from the factory. Push them to dive into the root cause of the problems in their facility.
5- Using a professional 3rd party service apply a process audit to the factory. You need to understand where are the risky parts not only in in their manufacturing line but also in their overall operation.
6- If you are seeing any material problems, dive into the their Incoming Quality Control department. Any defected material released from IQC to the production line is a bomb waiting for exploding. You need to make sure that IQC is doing their job properly. If needed you can ask them to increase their incoming quality inspection standards. Don't forget that the more problems you fix in the early stage and fix, you will have a more reliable product and you will be more relaxed afterwards.
7- If the factory is receiving any defected materials from their own suppliers, then you may need to apply even a sub-supplier audit. All these actions can be taken easily if your factory is cooperative. If not,
8- Change your supplier and work with a more responsible factory.
These 8 items would be my main and basic control check points. If you have any questions, I more than happy to help.
It all starts with the mold. If it has the right tolerances, product will come out OK, IF the manufacturing process is stabilized and controlled as well. Do a test run to validate data, and stick to the approved parameters. Measure parts once, per shift.
We use a CMM machine that has taken our headaches away!
Related Questions
-
What is the best way to find full stack mobile developers who are willing to work with me for equity, and what is fair compensation?
It's highly unlikely that you will be able to find competent full-stack mobile developers willing to work with you for equity, but if you do, "fair" compensation would be 50% or more of the equity in the Company. Approaching any developer with just an idea, diminishes your credibility as a potential co-founder. Here's why: If you're non-technical, you must show a "relentless resourcefulness" in moving your idea forward. This means finding the money necessary to get an MVP or even click-able prototype completed to show that while you might not be technical, you have the ability to raise money, and have enough product sense that you can articulate that into a prototype. If you can't raise or spend the relatively small amount of money required to successfully build a prototype, what evidence are you providing that developer that you are going to be able to create value for the business long-term? Full-stack mobile developers (although this is often quite a misnomer) are one of the most in-demand skill-sets of all Silicon Valley companies. That means that you're competing against established companies that can pay top dollar, and still provide meaningful equity incentives as well as recently funded startups who have further along the road in turning their idea into reality. I would suggest that you look at hiring contractors (I know of some great mobile dev shops that are reasonable) to build your first version. Expect to go solo at least until you have some form of early prototype. Then, you're in a much better position to attract a technical co-founder. Happy to talk you through any of this at any point.TW
-
I've been working on an app concept for 6 months and built an MVP. Is it better to pay a development firm to build or hire a developer as a cofounder?
I have built two software companies by hiring out the development work. I sold one for a decent sum during the dot com era (circa 1999). I remain a shareholder in the other one. I currently work with amazing development company on behalf of one of my clients. Here are some things to consider. 1. Do you really want to give up equity? If not outsource. 2. How fast do you want to get to market? If sooner than later, outsource. 3. How capitalized are you? If undercapitalized, either outsource offshore (which runs about 20% of US rates), or bring on an equity development partner. I offer a free call to first time clients. Let's chat and I'll give you some great advice from three decades of experience. Just use this link to schedule the free call: https://clarity.fm/kevinmccarthy/FreeConsult Best regards, Kevin McCarthy Www.kevinmccarthy.comKM
-
Taking a ridesharing idea from concept to market
here is my simple advice which should save you a lot of time and money. your journey should start identifying whether or not you have a problem worth solving. Most of your issues, assumptions, solution you put forward is irrelevant until you have done this. Don't get me wrong, your idea is sound and it often starts from a vision or an intuition that your idea is great. You now need to take a step back and do a coue of things: - what problems does cabsharing solve? Share the cost? Meet new people? Etc. - how would you rate the pain i.e. have people been dying for someone to co.e up with such a concept or is it simply a nice to have You have to come up with a porblem statement, good understanding of the problem and start testing this first. Get out there and interview people. Measure. Learn. If you have not heard of it yet just follow the lean startup approach (i recommend ash maurya's blog that will give you plenty to start with - his book running lean is also a great and practical resource). If you need help structuring it all or formalising your initial lean canvas I am happy to help. The most important thing is to test and validate key assumptions before you embark on something bigger. Many ways nowadays to do this, give me a shout in less than am hour we can get you up and running. Hope that helps, good luck the exciting part is just starting now: making it happen!ES
-
What product should I build?
You can only solve a big problem that changes the world if you solve a problem that is deeply personal to you. Two great examples and why they worked: Roy Raymond was a sad pervert. He'd buy bras and panties at the department store and all the clerks thought their thoughts about him. Roy felt embarrassed. He wasn't really a pervert. He just wanted to buy lingerie for his girlfriend. So he solved this major problem he was having. He created a space where men could feel comfortable coming in and buying sexy lingerie for their partners. He called it Victoria's Secret. But Roy, by solving this important personal issue for himself, apparently solved the same issue for many other men. First year sales were over $500,000 and he quickly opened up three more stores. In 1982 he sold Victoria's Secret for one million dollars before trying multiple other businesses that ended up failing. One MILLION Dollars. A decade later Victoria's Secret was worth over a billion dollars but Roy Raymund was nearly bankrupt and had missed the huge run-up in it's value. -- Picture New York City in the late 1800s on a rainy day. It was disgusting beyond belief. 150,000 horses transported people up and down the busy streets. Each of those horses, according to Super Freakonomics, dropped down about 15-30 pounds of manure. That's up to 4.5 million pounds of manure A DAY on the streets of NYC. And now imagine it raining. Would you cross the street? How long could this last? How long would the city survive without being infested with crap and all the diseases brought with it. What would happen as population of both men and horses increased? Was someone working on inventing a gigantic manure scooper? How would this problem get solved? It never got solved. Instead, Henry Ford invented the assembly line to mass produce cars. Every horse lost their job. People began to drive cars. Manure problem solved. -- In both cases there is a common theme. Someone outside the industry solved a problem that was personal to them that then changed an industry forever. Roy Raymund wasn't a fashion designer or a retailer. He worked in the marketing department of Vicks, which makes over the counter medications. Henry Ford, I don't think, ever worked in the manure industry. Instead, each person focused on a problem that was important to them. A problem that excited them at that moment in time. Raymund wanted to avoid being embarrassed in the future. Ford wanted an efficient way to make cars. The ONLY way to change the world is to solve a problem that is important to YOU. They had to choose themselves for success before they could save the world. Raymund had to convince himself that he didn't belong in the marketing department of a division of Procter & Gamble. He borrowed $80,000 and took the big risk of starting a business. Ford had to survive numerous failures and bankruptcies in order to find a cheap way to make cars. He would abandon investors, people who supported him, and even companies named after him, in his quest to solve his problem in his own way. Nobody gave them permission. And neither of them set out to change the world. They only wanted to solve a problem that was personally important to them. It's unfortunate that often we forget that choosing ourselves is not something that happens once. It has to happen every single day. Else we lose track of that core inside of us that solves problems and is able to share them in a way that makes the world a better place. Ford forgot this and became obsessed with Jews. Ford is the only American that Hitler mentions in Mein Kampf: "only a single great man, Ford, [who], to [the Jews'] fury, still maintains full independence...[from] the controlling masters of the producers in a nation of one hundred and twenty millions." And what happened to our embarrassed marketing manager that has ignited the passions of men and women for the past 30 years? Roy Raymund saw the value of Victoria's Secret jump from the one million he sold it for in 1982 to over a billion dollars a decade later. He failed in business after business. He got divorced. Then at the age of 46, my age, he drove to Golden Gate Bridge, jumped off it and killed himself. Before you can save the world you have to save yourself. But you have to relentlessly do it every day. Sometimes the train wakes me up at night and I feel scared. What will the world be like for my children? I won't always be able to help them. I don't even know if I do enough to help them now. And then I remember. I'm alive for another day.JA
-
For a once-off price point of $2,500, what would you expect from an agency-grade marketing package? Consulting, design, digital asset, tool, campaign?
Consider instead where a $2500 price point puts you. I use a selling technique called Monetizing The Problem, and in that process I get the prospect to calculate the size of their problem. Then I charge 5-10% of that figure. There's never any resistance, because they see where the number comes from, how it's based on reality--and a number THEY came up with (not me). So here you are at $2500. Let's be conservative and say that's 5% of the size of the problem. Meaning you are trying to help them make $50K in sales over the next year. What kind of a business has a revenue goal of $50K? A sole proprietor who's just trying to get by? Is that your target customer? Really think about this. A serious SME won't play at the $2500 price point, because it's too low. They know the vendor can't commit enough resources to do the job they really need done. For instance a business with only four high-value employees plus the owner needs to bill at least $60K A MONTH to survive!! Why would they let you touch their marketing collateral (that's their website) for a mere $2500?! Stay at $2500 and you're attracting a really low level of client. If you have the horsepower to achieve more with the skills you have, then I highly recommend going after a better class of customer.JK
the startups.com platform
Copyright © 2025 Startups.com. All rights reserved.