Original Date: 09/20/2004
Revision Date: 01/18/2007

Forest City Gear developed an extensive program to control the use of approved suppliers by establishing a master list from which necessary items would be procured. The company realized a reduction in rejected components from outside suppliers based on strict adherence to its Supplier Program.

Forest City Gear (FCG) worked through many issues regarding the quality of raw materials and machined parts it purchased from external suppliers. The company was often forced to spend time inspecting incoming products, and no reliability prediction information was known on the quality of incoming parts from specific suppliers.

To eliminate these issues, FCG established a Supplier Program with a master list of approved suppliers based on performance. Senior management reviews all suggested additions and supplier status updates. The status of a supplier is either disapproved, approved, or probationary. If a supplier is approved, FCG can procure necessary parts from the company; a disapproved status represents experience with poor quality or tardy deliveries. To add a new supplier, relevant information is obtained through interviews, resumes, quality manuals or audit results, and site visits to establish the supplier’s quality system and determine if the supplier is qualified. As non-conformance issues arise with parts received from a specific supplier, all parties are informed and a report is generated. If a poor quality trend continues, the issue is brought to FCG’s Senior Management’s attention, where it is decided to either take action or disapprove the supplier.

FCG’s Supplier Program has decreased the number of rejected products received and reduced the amount of non- conforming products sent to customers. The company is continuously improving its Supplier Program and increasing its confidence in using the services of approved suppliers.

For more information see the Point of Contact for this survey.