Why work with us?
Many engineering companies and equipment builders in the UK are attracted by the possibility of sourcing low cost machined parts from Asia. China has been a preferred source country for several years, however many buyers are now realising that better price / performance benefits are being seen in South East Asia.
However, no matter which country the parts are purchased from, there is usually a common theme to most people’s experiences, which goes something like this. Following some initial research to find potential suppliers, either via the internet or from physical visits, quotations are received and one or two Asian suppliers will be asked to produce a trial batch of parts. The quality will be excellent and a larger order will be placed, but this is when the problems usually start. As the volume of business placed with the new supplier grows, it is common to find that a percentage of the parts received are not as they should be. If a UK buyer receives a batch where 5% of the parts need to be scrapped, they may take the view that with an overall 40% cost saving, this is still a good deal. But what about when 50% of the batch is sub-standard, or even worse, when the grade of material that has been used for the whole batch is not as it should be.
Very high quality materials are available all over Asia, and you can be sure these materials will be used for your initial samples, but as it does in the rest of the world, quality material in Asia comes at a price. Unfortunately, in Asia, sub-standard materials are all too readily available and due to the far lower prices, they are frequently used when they shouldn’t be. So that’s when the problems start. You have parts you want to return, but your supplier has all of a sudden lost their ability to communicate in English! Then, even if you can get your supplier to agree to take the parts back, the cost of return shipping and the required export/import documentation means this is cost prohibitive. That’s where our service brings such a benefit.
What we do
By providing a fully independent Quality Control service whilst your parts are still in the country of manufacture, QC Engineering can ensure that 100% of the parts which are exported to you are of the quality you require. We can provide a range of QA services from basic dimensional and tolerance checks, to verifying material certificates or carrying out specific material tests. If the material used is sub-standard, we will reject the whole batch. If we reject only a percentage of a batch for other reasons, you have the option for us to ship only the good portion to you, or we can ask the supplier to replace the faulty parts and ensure that the full quantity you ordered is supplied, all at the required quality.
Whether you are a small or large user of machined parts, QC Engineering’s independent services will enable you to buy with confidence from overseas suppliers, taking advantage of the significant cost savings without taking the risk of receiving sub-standard parts.
About Us
We are a UK owned and managed business and we are currently in the process of setting up our first QA facility in Thailand, which will be staffed with our own employees. To ensure your communication with us is 100% clear and accurate, your primary point of contact will be one of our UK based Engineers.
In addition quality control, we also offer an assembly service, where you can have a range of parts delivered into our facility from one or more suppliers, and we can put together you final or sub-assemblies. This can be useful for some of our clients who have design or intellectual property sensitive assemblies.
Having multiple suppliers all deliver into our facility can also have benefits of consolidated shipping.
For more information on the services we offer, please see our details on the Contact Us page. We look forward to talking with you.