Supplier Certification and the Paper Industry, 1994 Process & Product Quality Conference Proceedings

P. J. Frost <>

With the advent TQM, JIT and ISO 9000, Supplier Certification has assumed an increasingly important role within the paper industry. Raw material quality, price and consistency directly impact both overall profitability and customer retention and growth rates.

Supplier Certification programs can present some unique and difficult challenges to pulp and/or paper manufacturers. Specification definitions and appropriate testing systems are sometimes very hard to formulate. In addition, natural incoming raw material variability may create process adjustment situations which, in turn, may create outgoing product quality and consistency problems even though the raw material meets specs.

Regardless, Supplier Certification is now a fact of life which, when used wisely, can pay off in significant increases in outgoing quality and decreases in cost of manufacturing. This paper will discuss those aspects of certification that are basic to the success of this strategy.