The cost of poor quality : a figure quantified by AFNOR
According to a study by the AFNOR Group published in December 2023, 80% of companies estimate their costs of poor quality to be between 0 and 5% of their turnover, and 67% of industrial companies already measure these costs. The study highlights a decisive point for our topic: companies certified to ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 are significantly better equipped to track these costs and identify reduction levers compared to non-certified companies.
Quality control on the production line
On an industrial production line, a defect that is not detected immediately affects all subsequent stages, potentially reaching the end customer. The ISO 9001 process approach, which we detailed in our article on ISO 9001 process mapping, truly comes into its own here: precisely mapping every production step allows you to identify where to place the most effective control points, rather than relying on excessive post-production checks on the finished product.
Supplier quality : a link that cannot be overlooked
A significant portion of industrial poor quality originates with raw material or component suppliers, long before the product enters the factory. An effective quality management system must therefore integrate supplier evaluation and monitoring as a full-fledged process, not as an auxiliary administrative formality.
How to structure your ISO 9001 approach in an industrial environment ?
A few priorities help adapt the standard to the realities of industrial production :
- Position quality control points as close as possible to critical production process steps, not just at the end of the line
- Systematically measure the cost of poor quality, as 67% of industrial companies already do according to AFNOR
- Integrate supplier quality as an upstream process of the management system, linked to product non-conformities identified downstream
- Leverage non-conformity data to prioritize corrective actions, rather than addressing them in the order they are received
How does quality software support industrial production ?
Linking a non-conformity detected in production to its supplier cause, tracking the cost of poor quality in real time, and structuring manufacturing process mapping requires a tool capable of connecting this information. The Symalean Quality module structures this entire chain, from the supplier to the finished product. Our industry sector page presents all the modules adapted to this type of production environment.
