The complaint was ours and the cause was upstream

Board arrives, looks correct, and is converted. Problems appear during die-cutting or, worse, at the customer's filling line, and the converter is the one holding the complaint.

Attribution requires a record

Without incoming checks, a converter cannot show that material was out of specification when received. The claim against the supplier becomes an assertion, and it is usually dropped.

Testing proportionately

Not every delivery needs a full test. Checking the parameters that actually cause conversion problems, on a sampling basis, catches most of it for a fraction of the effort — and the record is what makes the claim viable.

The buying consequence

Suppliers compared only on price are compared on the smaller number. Once variation is recorded, the cheaper supplier frequently turns out to be the more expensive one, and the purchasing conversation changes entirely.