Supplier quality assurance (SQA) is the process that ensures a supplier reliably provides goods or services that satisfy the customer’s needs. This process is collaborative to make certain the supplier’s offerings meet the agreed-upon requirements with minimum inspection or modification.

Effective quality assurance should incorporate a combination of process and product audits that manage external and internal checks and focus on supplier management, quality conformity of the product through its life cycle, production and equipment quality and effectiveness, and preshipment inspections. We’ll take a high-level look at the overall SQA process and discuss key considerations that affect it. Note that although SQA applies to both products and services, we’ll simplify the topic here by addressing only product-related processes.

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