2010-Leveraging Your Quality Assurance Programs to Yield Measurable Cost Benefits

Leveraging Your Quality Assurance Programs to Yield Measurable Cost Benefits

Ben S. DeVito Jr., Specialized Technology Resources


Introduction

The apparel and textile industry is no stranger to product testing and having to comply with various Quality Assurance requirements to meet both federal regulations and industry standards. In August 2008, the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) was signed into law.
This regulatory change has increased testing requirements and costs associated with compliance. At the same time, a challenging economic climate is forcing the industry to focus its attention on cost control and the judicious use of financial and human resources to help ensure quality and product safety. This dichotomy has never been so pronounced.
A successful organization will not only conduct the necessary testing to meet federal and industry regulations, but will also learn to leverage its quality assurance programs to yield measurable benefits.
Traditionally, the quality and safety functions have been staffed by technical experts, to include areas such as fabric and garment construction, product and safety testing, and finished goods inspections. However, for an organization to optimize its resources and to achieve maximum financial success, they will have to leverage their quality and safety programs and incorporate them into strategic development, tactical planning and decision making processes. Without question, QA and product safety components are critical to a successful supply chain and, by definition, critical to the short and long-term success of
the organization in reducing costs and meeting customer expectations.
A well developed and high functioning Quality and Product Safety program will contribute to your bottom line by decreasing costs and increasing revenue while continuing to exceed your customer’s expectations.