Selected Answers

From Carl Thompson of Hill Brothers on July 3, 2014:
I can speak of this from experience with a medium- ...read more I can speak of this from experience with a medium-sized paint manufacturer. When I came to the company as technical director, production was doing its own quality control. Their main goal is to get as much product finished and out the door as possible. If in doubt, get it out. This company had about 800 product complaints a year. The cost of fixing problems cost the company its profit and lost them business each year. I hired two quality control chemists and in one year we dropped complaints to about 9. We started interactive seminars with our dealers throughout the west. The company started to pick up business and soon was actually making a generous profit instead of losses annually.

From James Albertoni of CA Department of Water Resources on June 30, 2014:
It is always cheaper to do it correctly the first ...read more It is always cheaper to do it correctly the first time. Third-party inspectors will help ensure it is done correctly the first time. Upper management may not care, though.

From Steve Brunner of Indepenent on June 30, 2014:
Remember, failures cost more, both from repair wor ...read more Remember, failures cost more, both from repair work and from bad publicity. Bad publicity results in loss of pending projects. Third-party inspectors are trained and certified to SSPC or NACE criteria. Inspectors sign a code of ethics, which means they adhere to the scope of the project without bias. In the unlikely event of a failure, the inspector's reports should state how the job was done. I would call this a cheap insurance policy.