Unlocking delivery excellence: Integrating supply chain and quality management for organisational success
Abstract
In today’s fiercely competitive and rapidly evolving business landscape, organisations are under constant pressure to meet and exceed customer expectations. While product quality remains a critical factor in determining customer satisfaction, the ability to consistently deliver the right product, at the right place, in the right quantity, and at the right time has emerged as an equally crucial differentiator. Poor delivery performance can lead to a host of negative consequences, including lost business, damaged reputation and decreased market share. To address this challenge, organisations must recognise the vital role that well-defined and structured supply chain management processes play in driving delivery performance excellence. By aligning these processes with established quality management principles and leveraging advanced technology, organisations can unlock the full potential of their supply chain, ensuring on time/every time delivery performance as well as fostering cross-functional collaboration, enhancing operational efficiency and ultimately, improving customer satisfaction. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive roadmap for organisations seeking to enhance their delivery performance by recognising essential supply chain requirements and their related processes and ensuring integration of these into their operational culture. Although this roadmap was developed based on the automotive industry, these essential supply chain requirements and related processes have proven to be equally applicable across other industry sectors including life sciences, industrial and consumer products. By adopting this holistic approach to delivery performance, organisations can break down silos among critical operating functions and leverage technology solutions to position themselves to continuously achieve customer satisfaction in an increasingly complex and dynamic business environment.
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Author's Biography
Terry Onica is Director of Automotive at QAD, and responsible for global marketing activities including strategy and positioning, product and offering, people and knowledge and field and sales marketing support for the automotive vertical. Terry works in close concert with customers to drive best practices and earn preferred supplier status. She also is an industry leader in the development and global adoption of supply chain industry standards and best practices. Terry is co-host of Auto Supply Chain Prophets podcast, the focus of which is to help auto manufacturers, suppliers and others in the automotive supply chain recognise, prepare for and profit from whatever comes next. Prior to joining QAD, Terry worked at GM, Ford and Johnson Controls. She has been immersed in the automotive supply chain and technology space throughout her entire career. Currently, Terry is an active member of the Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG) Supply Chain Steering Committee. Terry is one of the authors of the Global Materials Management Operations Guideline/Logistics Evaluation (MMOG/LE) which is used by thousands of automotive suppliers globally. She has been awarded several times by AIAG and Odette for driving the development of global supply chain standards in the areas of assessments, key performance indicators (KPIs), supplier agreements and equality, diversity and inclusivity (EDI). She is a mentor at Wayne State University for supply chain students who will be first-generation graduates. Terry has a BSc in computer information systems from Lawrence Technological University.
Cathy Fisher is President of Quistem, LLC. With 40 years respected expertise in the automotive industry, Cathy works with innovators and early adopters in the global automotive/mobility supply chain including original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), major Tier 1-n suppliers as well as emerging technology start-ups, helping transform their management systems into ‘money-making machines’ to achieve consistent customer satisfaction, business growth and sustained profitability. Cathy started her automotive career with General Motors in the 1980s, working for the AC Spark Plug division in Flint, Michigan where she led product development efforts to support GM-sponsored NASCAR teams. In 1990, she joined ITT-Teves to help with their launch of anti-lock brake technology in the US automotive market, including assisting with two plant start-ups. In 1993, Cathy became a member of BMW’s plant start-up team in Greer, SC, where she led the establishment of BMW’s North American supply base in support of the 318, 325 and Z-3 Roadster vehicle launches. Cathy recently relaunched the Future of Automotive Core Tools (FACTs) initiative to engage all voices in defining automotive manufacturing and supply chain standards in support of the new mobility sector.
Citation
Onica, Terry and Fisher, Cathy (2025, February 26). Unlocking delivery excellence: Integrating supply chain and quality management for organisational success. In the Journal of Supply Chain Management, Logistics and Procurement, Volume 7, Issue 3. https://doi.org/10.69554/HTJT1103.
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