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by Jeff Moad, MA Editorial Staff Posted on Sunday, June 24, 2007 6:27:35 PM   | Abstract: | SigmaQuest's system allows manufacturers to track the quality of components as they come off assembly and test lines. Knowing where product defects originate can help a company optimize its production operations. |
Most manufacturers know one thing about warranty payments and product returns: They cost a whole lot of money. A recent report by Aberdeen Group, in fact, estimated that warranty claims cost U.S. companies $2 billion per month. What most manufacturers are less sure of, however, is what causes the product defects that lead to warranty claims and product returns -- and what they can do to fix those quality problems quickly. The same Aberdeen study found that the biggest warranty-related challenge facing manufacturers is identifying the root causes of product failures. SigmaQuest Inc., a small, four-year-old software and service provider, is focused squarely on helping manufacturers clear up the mysteries surrounding product quality problems that can lead to costly warranty claims and even product recalls. The company so far has attracted 30 customers across 90 plants who have either licensed SigmaQuest's software or plugged into the on-demand version of its product. Focused mainly on high-tech, medical equipment, automotive, and aerospace markets, SigmaQuest's system allows manufacturers to track the quality of components as they come off assembly and test lines. The SigmaSure product suite allows users to associate specific components with specific finished products and to track and analyze the performance of those products and components through their lifecycles. Using SigmaQuest's suite, customers can head off quality problems before they mushroom, reduce the impact of recalls, better manage suppliers, and even apportion warranty liability to suppliers who may have been responsible for bad parts. SigmaSure can be used for components and products coming off a manufacturer's own production lines or those of contract manufacturers and suppliers. "The timing is right for a product like SigmaQuest's," says Bob Parker, vice president of research at IDC Manufacturing Insights (Framingham, MA). "The elongation of supply chains makes it difficult for manufacturers to keep an eye on what's going on with their suppliers and contractors around the world as far as quality is concerned." SigmaQuest has hit upon a unique approach, Parker says. While warranty management system providers such as 4CS Corp. (East Moline, IL) collect information on returned products and warranty claims, they don't tap directly into component-level, production-quality data, so they come up short when it comes to root cause analysis, he says. And component test equipment suppliers usually don't track warranty data, so they don't provide a full lifecycle product view. At the core of SigmaSure is a Manufacturing Test Insight module that pulls information directly from the component test equipment of such suppliers as Agilent Technologies and National Instrument Corp. That information can be consolidated from multiple production locations. SigmaSure combines that test information with bill of material and serial number data pulled from legacy or ERP systems. With that information, SigmaSure can track the genealogy of each product. Analytical tools give users the ability to spot and analyze product quality trends, and a dashboard interface gives executives the ability to view consolidated results. SigmaQuest is currently transitioning to an exclusively on-demand delivery model for the SigmaSure suite. The latest addition to SigmaSure, RMA (Return Merchandise Authorization) Insight, closes the quality tracking loop. Tapping into CRM or legacy systems, RMA Insight helps users get to the root causes of product failures that result in returns or warranty claims. Manufacturers, for example, can analyze the top reason for product failures and identify the supplier and even the machine responsible for the failing part. They can then use the information to quickly track down quality problems and, when recalls are necessary, limit them to products that are directly affected by specific component problems. Page : 1 2 ... NEXT |