Weird supplier: The magical experience of having five quality managers in one year
I've been in the SQE position for nearly a year and have encountered quite a few suppliers. However, when it comes to being "unique", a private enterprise (let's call it the "weird supplier") definitely takes the lead. From last October to now, in just 11 months, this company has had 5 quality managers. This frequency is "phenomenal" in supply chain management and has also piqued my strong curiosity about its internal operations.
First encounter: The quality manager who doesn't understand quality
My "fate" with this supplier began on the third day of my employment. At that time, the first task assigned by the department was to sign a quality agreement for the procurement contract with them. The contact person was their newly - appointed Manager Lu, who had been in office for only two weeks. It was said that he used to be the workshop manager of the company and had returned after leaving for many years. When I first met him, I thought I could have a professional communication on the product inspection and supervision clauses. Unexpectedly, he was absent - minded throughout the process. During the meeting, he frequently left his seat to exchange cigarettes and chat with our colleagues. The topics always revolved around "I know so - and - so" and "We cooperated before", and he avoided talking about the detailed terms of the quality agreement.
I patiently sorted out the supervision and inspection contents item by item, but he kept interrupting me: "Aren't these all determined by you? Just make it passable." Seeing that he had no professional attitude at all, I had to suspend the communication and asked him to provide the company's product inspection plan the next day before signing the contract. Who would have thought that he called me directly the next day and said, "There's no need to look at the plan. You can just write whatever you want, and I'll sign it."
I immediately refused, saying, "The quality agreement is the basis for defining the responsibilities of both parties, and the inspection plan is the implementation standard. As the quality manager, if you don't provide it, the agreement cannot be signed." He immediately lost his temper and said, "What do you know as a newbie? This is making things difficult! I'm going to complain to your manager!"
Ten minutes later, the manager indeed asked to talk to me and relayed Manager Lu's complaint: "He said you don't understand anything and that they should be making plans while you do what you're supposed to do." I held back my anger and replied, "Whether I'm professional or not is an internal matter of the company, and it's not for the supplier to comment on. But as a supplier, he refuses to submit even basic quality documents, which essentially makes him an inferior supplier."
This standoff finally ended with my "victory". First, the manager understood that it was not easy for new employees. Second, this supplier had already been complained about by colleagues due to the chaotic quality documents in the past. Soon after, Manager Lu no longer handled the matter directly. Instead, Deputy Manager Lin, who always had a smiling face, took over the communication, and all the materials were quickly supplemented. When signing the contract, Manager Lu was actually quite frank: "To be honest, I only know something about workshop inspections. I really don't know what those documents you asked for are."
From a Yes - man to a Scapegoat: Manager Lin's Dilemma in the Quality Position
Two months later, Deputy Manager Lin was officially promoted to Quality Manager, and Manager Lu was transferred. Due to the frequent orders, I often chatted with her and only then learned that her "promotion" was actually out of helplessness: "It's entirely up to the boss's words." She was originally the workshop manager and was called an "easy - going person" by her colleagues for being "good at getting along with people and skilled in coordination". After taking over the quality position, her reputation changed drastically: "Previously, people said 'Little Lin is such a nice person', but now they say 'How has Little Lin changed? All she does is find faults'."
What's even more surreal is the salary mechanism. "Whenever there's any problem, the boss deducts my bonus first. My income on the books is much less than when I was the workshop manager," she said. Then, she changed the subject and lowered her voice. "But the boss has a set of 'combination punches'. He scolds me in front of the whole company, saying that I 'didn't manage the quality well'. Then, he secretly slips me a stack of cash and says, 'Thank you for your hard work. This is compensation.'"
It suddenly dawned on me: The seemingly strict penalty of deducting money was a show of "valuing quality" put on for other employees, while privately reimbursing the money was the actual compensation for her taking the blame. This kind of "overt deduction and covert reimbursement" operation actually made her income exceed what it used to be. The "management wisdom" of this private enterprise boss really refreshed my perception.
Intentionally creating "unrest": The boss's philosophy of middle - management rotation
Two more months passed, and the quality manager was replaced again. This time, I learned the truth from Manager Lin: "The boss never considers the performance when replacing middle - level managers." His logic is that he "hates a dull atmosphere", so he deliberately changes middle - level positions frequently. For example, he might ask the production manager to take charge of procurement today and the quality manager to handle administration tomorrow. He calls it "breaking the stereotype and stimulating vitality", but in fact, it creates information chaos and tension among departments.
This management model of "creating turmoil for the sake of turmoil" directly causes middle - level cadres to "dare not delve deeply": they are transferred to other positions just when they get familiar with the quality process, and new employees have to start learning from scratch. The quality system within the supplier has always remained at the stage of "treating the headache when there is a headache and the foot pain when there is a foot pain".
Endless "obligatory training": The daily life of SQE and curiosity
Recently, when signing an outsourcing contract, I found that the quality manager I was in contact with had been replaced again - this was already the fifth one. The other party was completely unfamiliar with the terms of the quality agreement and the supervision and inspection process, so I had to explain everything from the beginning: from the sampling standards to the handling of non-conforming products, from record keeping to traceability requirements... A contract negotiation was turned into a "quality awareness training session".
Tired as I was, my curiosity about this company grew even stronger: How does the boss's "disruptive management" keep the company running? How do the middle - level managers who change positions frequently adapt to their roles? Is there a unique logic for private enterprises' survival hidden behind this seemingly chaotic model?
Encountering such "oddballs" might just be the charm of supply chain work - you never know what management samples that will shatter your perception you'll come across around the next corner.