Driven by market expansion, financial pressures, and the need to accelerate innovation, today’s manufacturers have expanded their global operations and supply partners. This evolution has only amplified the manufacturer and supply-chain relationship, which is often characterized by a delicate balance between cooperation and adversarial negotiation.

In this new era, stakeholders are required to connect, interact, and integrate on previously unknown and unexpected levels. As such, manufacturers, suppliers, and contract manufacturing organizations (CMOs) are seeking new and direct ways to collaborate efficiently and effectively in their handling of quality events in order to achieve the financial benefits that can be measured in hundreds of thousands of dollars in annual savings from operational efficiencies—not to mention millions of dollars from avoiding commercial recalls.

 …