Nip Impressions logo
Thu, Nov 14, 2024 11:35
Visitor
Home
Click here for Pulp & Paper Radio International
Subscription Central
Must reads for pulp and paper industry professionals
Search
My Profile
Login
Logout
Management Side
Week of 11 November 2024: Honesty is a Key Component in Quality

Email Jim at jim.thompson@ipulpmedia.com

When many think of quality, their mind immediately goes to specifications. Is the moisture correct? How about smoothness? Coating quality? Pin holes?

These matters are all important, but even more important is the integrity of the deal.

Do you have a reputation for delivering full orders on time? Does anyone have "a thumb on the scale?"

There are many questions like this that lie outside specifications.

More...

Buyer or seller, is your "fine print" so onerous or complicated that it is filled with "gotchas?"

Do your sales representatives' verbal descriptions of your products even remotely describe what you deliver?

One clue as to your performance in this area is to carefully examine your R & A's (Returns and Allowances) by type. Some will involve specifications, but others may indicate broken promises, either verbal or written. Here you can put a monetary value on your honesty.

It is important to understand that honesty starts at home. If you do not treat your employees in an honest fashion or promote honesty between your employees, morale falls and it is more likely that you will have honesty problems with your customers and suppliers, too.

Purchasers have a role to play in honesty, too. If you, the purchaser, do not pay your invoices on the terms promised, your good suppliers may abandon you. You will be left with suppliers of last resort.

A form of dishonesty on the part of purchasers, in my opinion, are extraordinarily long payment terms. When did it become acceptable to promulgate payment terms of 90 or 120 days? I have been seeing them for fifteen years and I don't seek any business where they exist. You are not saving any money--your suppliers are charging you for this in hidden ways. Don't believe me? Offer them 30-day terms and see what happens to the prices you pay.

I know of a cross-border case where the purchaser of the services conveniently forgot to tell the supplier there would be a 10% national tariff on all their invoices. Do you think that small supplier will ever do business with them again?

Yes, specifications are important to quality, but that is only one part. Do a thorough review of your company's honesty.

Be safe and we will talk next week.

If you would like to dig a little deeper, [click here].

________

Other interesting stories:


Printer-friendly format

 


Members Opinions:
November 08, 2024 at 1:55am
I have always valued honesty, have found the paper industry rife with poor practices. I remember the buyer that was able to cut across production and technical recommendations if he didn't get his significant personal cut. The spell checker insisted suggesting Devious as his name so he was particularly memorable.
Fortunately, as far as I can tell, corporate controls are better now. But maybe that is only an impression.
You must be torn that the President elect is known to be seriously dishonest and his team is already looking to rein-back his promises. Or is that different? Why?
November 08, 2024 at 8:40am
No political comments on business themed sites. Thank you for reading Nip Impressions and thank you for your insightful comments.

Jim



Powered by Bondware
News Publishing Software

The browser you are using is outdated!

You may not be getting all you can out of your browsing experience
and may be open to security risks!

Consider upgrading to the latest version of your browser or choose on below: