Intertek RiskAware: Data Analytics to Minimize the Total Cost of Quality

Equipment purchasing customers want supplier inspection programs to be more efficient and transparent. By using risk-based data analytics to pin-point risky areas within their inspection program they can optimize their supply chain strategy. Risks such as component failure, delayed production opportunity costs and project cost escalation due to delays in late arrival equipment, can be mitigated through robust and proactive quality control programmes, complemented by vendor surveillance activities and overall assessment and monitoring of the supply chain suppliers.  The challenge lies in planning optimized and integrated quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) activities which can be achieved most effectively by apportioning vendor inspection spend to higher-risk areas. 

Intertek RiskAware – Addressing the ‘Cost of Quality’

With Intertek RiskAware’s analytical approach to risk-based and QA/QC inspection data, we help our customers minimize their total cost of quality by avoiding costly and disruptive delays, incurring significant rework costs, or experiencing non-compliance issues. Our cloud-based solution identifies quality and safety risks which helps companies optimize their inspection program. RiskAware combines Intertek’s unique position as the global preferred vendor inspection provider to major international companies with its decades of experience visiting their suppliers so that real-time analytics and aggregated data give risk assessments based on the highest available volumes of independently validated data.

Infusing Analytics into the Decision-Making Process

Intertek RiskAware’s analytics examine historical data that has been collected from over a million vendor inspection visits and then forecasts what might happen in the future based on the data trends. It has proven to be a vital component when planning more efficient and effective quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) activities that address the areas of higher risk which helps reduce the cost of quality. 

As a global leader in vendor surveillance, Intertek has accumulated a wealth of supply chain information and insights that we have assimilated into a holistic approach focused on Total Quality Assurance for our customers.  The history of non-conformance report (NCR) rates, defect reasons, rectification timing, delivery overruns, and real-time supplier-related observations are analysed and modelled by Intertek RiskAware to highlight the riskiest areas to focus on and areas that warrant less attention. Focus areas can include equipment types, supplier locations, component sub-suppliers, countries, and other factors in today’s complex supply chains.

Visualizing Quality and Safety Risks 

Intertek RiskAware’s interactive dashboards show trends in NCRs and HSE assessments, as well as deeper analytics dashboards using categories for “Quality Saves” with designations for critical and non-critical issues. Our major customers have recognized the highly valuable pro-active insights they can obtain by having access to our detailed supplier data because it extends beyond similar data they already have internally from their own projects. Through our supplier data, they are able to draw from a wider supply chain knowledge base, which, of course, is anonymized to protect the privacy interests and confidentiality of our customer base.