Bradington Young Sale Days

[drcollie]

"Quality Control" is Workmanship Defects that are not caught before the piece is shipped, simple as that.

At every manufacturing facility you have workers that build the units, then a final inspector that goes over the piece to make sure its done correctly before its boxed and shipped. There are two layers, the first is the line workers who should 'catch' anything before it goes to the next station, and lastly the inspector before it goes in the box. When pieces are shipped with defects, it shows a lack of attention on the part of the work force and low morale. All humans make mistakes - we all know that. However, where there are too many "mistakes" going out the door, its indicative of going beyond that and a workforce that has no pride in what they do, and that translates into poor Management.

What is even more telling is the speed and efficiency of correcting those mistakes, and when companies fail to do so, it destroys confidence in the brand. When the Customer Service team doesn't really care, it's a sign of a real issue.

I take each problem piece personally - probably more so than I should. I want them taken care of as fast as possible and in a no-nonsense way to my customer's satisfaction. It keeps me up at night when they don't. In thirty years of doing this, I have established a good reputation and like to maintain it. When suppliers ship out products that have issues, and then are slow to remedy, it will make me drop the line or at the very least de-emphasize it as it reflects directly upon my store.

Quality Control is why I dropped Leathercraft as a supplier. Too many problem pieces and management failed to address over a period of time. Bradington Young is on thin ice and I am waiting to see if things improve after the Hooker merge of all their systems. I will not hesitate to drop the line if they do not. I certainly will not promote it with a sale period right now, and the B-Y Rep is avoiding my store as I think I have scared him off with my rants on their QC.

The upholstery furniture business as a whole is like a tube of toothpaste. It's easy to squeeze it out and really difficult to get it back in. Returns for correction are always difficult and lack a sense of urgency, especially among the transportation companies. For that reason my preference is to represent only the highest quality furniture with the best quality control (less returns) and should a problem arise they take care of it quickly. That company in leather upholstery is Hancock and Moore.