Editor’s note: This is part two of a two-part series. Read part one here.

ASQ has recently offered a new certification, Certified Supplier Quality Professional, specifically for those quality professionals dealing with suppliers. Who are these professionals? Most often the “who” depends on the size of the company.

A production part approval process (PPAP) is used by companies to establish confidence and rules in a production process. In a sense, it gives customers a view into their suppliers’ manufacturing capabilities.

Handheld X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analyzers are proven analytical tools commonly used for the fast, easy, accurate, and nondestructive identification and analysis of metals and alloys.

Manufacturers’ waste-reduction initiatives are rarely as effective as they could be. When reducing waste, inventory is often the main target. But how do you right-size inventory in an environment of constant variability? In a word: kanban.

If your company ships anything on a regular basis, you should know about freight invoice auditing. This is the method that shippers have used for 60 years to cut the costs charged by carriers and to make deliveries more efficiently to their end users.