Presenter: Fayzee Ahmed

It is difficult to label a product with made in “xyz” country. Large multinationals no longer build many of the assemblies and major components that comprise their products. There are many examples of high-visibility recalls in history, either due to defective purchased materials or failure to comply with statutory and regularity requirements. Recalls are expensive and damaging for the brand name. Therefore, managing supplier quality is as crucial as managing quality in your own shop. In this session, the presenter shares success factors to consider in managing a diversified global supply chain. Having crucial components of supplier quality in place ensures competitiveness. Industry 4.0 technologies have enhanced the real-time visibility of the entire supply chain. These technologies can be leveraged to make informed decisions in managing suppliers and implementing proactive actions to prevent disruptions. COVID-19 has led to emergence of social distancing, resulting in support for carrying out virtual audits. Sophisticated technologies allow us to maintain the integrity of virtual audits. However, the jury is still out whether virtual audit will become a new normal for carrying out second-party audits.