Q: The company I work for has outsourced its manufacturing processes and will possibly be outsourcing some of its other processes (including its core quality operations) in the near future. I am interested in ASQ articles that relate to the outsourcing of core company operations or how quality is affected overall by outsourcing.
A: Outsourcing can be defined as a “strategy to relieve an organization of processes and tasks in order to reduce cost, improve quality, reduce cycle times, reduce the need for specialized skill, and increase efficiency” (taken from The Quality Improvement Glossary by Donald L. Siebels).
For more on this topic, please visit ASQ’s website.
An issue I would have with respect to this query in relation to Top Levels of Management as required in many product and systems certifications – ISO 9001 quite clearly states the need to identify manage control outsourced processes – however it also requires Top Level Management participation & engagement – not sure what other compliance certifications may require – but it is a key issue to be addressed
Also identification & control of quality hold points as well as processes for management of non conforming products are key quality musts.
Kerrie Christian
another ASQ Influential Voice for Quality Blogger