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Quality Issues in a Global Supply Chain: Who Is Responsible?

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Submitted By aidassj
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Quality Issues in a Global Supply Chain: Who is responsible?
There is not one entity to blame solely for the faulty capacitor. A supply chain that involves a lot of different stakeholders makes it harder to keep control over the process. In a case like this, there is more than one factor to take into consideration; financial, ethical, and contractual burdens are to be placed on the responsible corresponding parties. All stakeholders share some responsibility for the supply chain fiasco. It seems that placing the blame on one party would be unfair, which is why it is better to evaluate each entity’s responsibility and fault in the issue.
As the OEM and final user of the capacitor before reaching the customer, Ford should have been more involved in the supply chain and quality control. With more than two tier suppliers involved in the production of the actuator it is important for the customer to be closely involved in order to minimize margins of errors. With better and closer involvement in the production process, communication in the supply chain could have been enhanced, allowing for a more efficient and effective strategic coordination between suppliers. However, Ford failed to pay attention and guarantee final quality checks, to evaluate for better suppliers, and lacked the drive to ensure perfect working conditions in the production line and decisions made throughout the process. Even though they had hired Automek to manage the supply chain on their behalf, they were too confident on giving them full liability. Ford’s lack of involvement makes them responsible for being careless in the management of the supply chain. Ford could have helped determine if Agile was the best option, especially because they had never produced something similar before and they have never worked under the automotive strict quality requirements. Moreover, Ford could have been more

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