A Case Study On Supplier Quality Management For HD Company

In the fierce competition among several big retail companies,it‘s the key to win through maintaining efficient and accurate supply chain,as well as deliver better products at lower prices.According to the total quality management theory,the quality of supplier's products directly affects the quality of products or services provided by enterprises.Especially for the retail industry,with the development of e-commerce,in order to provide terminal customers with personalized and differentiated buying experience and the improvement of satisfaction,retention rate and loyalty,retail enterprises need focus on optimizing end-to-end supply chain network and improving the inventory,transportation and distribution productivity.Then,the supplier as the initial part of the whole supply chain,the quality management effect of it imposes has an important impact on the development enterprises.HD company is the world‘s largest home improvement retailer.HD company is a Delaware corporation that was incorporated in 1978.When it refers to "HD" in this report,we are referring to HD company and its consolidated subsidiaries.HD sells a wide assortment of building materials,home improvement products and lawn and garden products and provides a number of services.HD stores average approximately 104,000 square feet of enclosed space,with approximately 24,000 additional square feet of outside garden area.As of the end of fiscal 2016,HD had 2,278 HD stores located throughout the United States,including the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the territories of the U.S.Virgin Islands and Guam,Canada and Mexico.As the company expands,the trend is providing a seamless and frictionless shopping experience through multiple channels,featuring innovative and curated product choices delivered in a fast and cost-efficient manner,and it will be a key enabler for future success.Then it poses a challenge to the supply chain,how could HD evaluate the qualified suppliers,how to control the whole progress,and how can maintain stability to meet the goal.As HD attaches great importance to the continuous improvement of the supplier,the supplier audit,evaluation and verification etc.manyprocedures,has accumulated a lot of good experiences,also conducted a lot of practices for supplier quality management.The main conclusion of this study is that the company's best practices in supplier quality management which includes: quality early engagement;complete quality control circle;good reputation in home improvement industry;efficient and professional 3rd party service providers;enhanced product requirements to focus on the needs of the customer;long-term improvement——SCAR project.At the same time,there are also some problems: supply chain and information technology systems are disunited;QA team doesn‘t have clear criteria how we select right supplier;lack of awareness on supplier‘s willingness of participation.In view of these problems,author also put forward corresponding suggestions: make systems communicate with each other;further understand the supplier management strategy;need to visit factory on-site.The research results of this paper have certain reference value for supplier quality management of multinational retail enterprises.