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Smith recently unveiled our new 4Cs quality framework, which outlines the four pillars of quality that serve as the foundation for our operations. As Smith’s Chief Operating Officer, I strive to ensure that our framework for quality excellence is unmatched by any other independent distributor. In this blog series, I will be breaking down each of the 4Cs – comprehensiveness, consistency, continuousness, and certification – to explain their place within the framework and the important role they serve in upholding the high level of quality our customers expect of us.
Our third C – continuous – focuses on our drive to innovate and elevate to grow our business, stay ahead of our competition, and exceed our customers’ requirements. In line with our ISO 9001 certification, continuous improvement is part of our culture at Smith. From equipment upgrades to ongoing learning and development, we are always looking for new ways to improve our processes, services, and technologies.
WorksChain, our proprietary operational platform, continues to be an essential component of our operational continuous-improvement process. Our team of internal developers custom-built this system from the ground up to meet our specific needs within the electronic component supply chain. Over time, WorksChain has evolved to include new customer-specific requirements, greater automation, more flexibility, and higher efficiency to streamline the system and expand our capabilities.
Smith’s commitment to evolving and innovating extends beyond our processes to our people, too. We are constantly looking for ways to further develop each employee’s skill set. Most of our team members are cross-trained in at least one other area, and all employees take part in our Lunch and Learn programming and proprietary online training coursework. Our internal learning platform, Smith University, includes hundreds of learning and development courses across all departments.
Looking forward, Smith will continue to innovate and develop new opportunities through our commitment to progress. Equipment upgrades, expanded testing capabilities, enhanced service offerings, and new certifications to support our customers’ needs are among our many continuous-improvement projects on the horizon. We strive to always keep moving so that we can maintain our position as the world’s leading independent distributor of electronic components.
Keep an eye out here on our Market Blog and our LinkedIn page for more industry news, analysis and insights, and information about Smith’s quality program.
