Collaborate with suppliers on the TDP and manage technical performance

The aerospace, automotive and medical industries have all increased the amount of production subcontracted into the supply chain. As a result, there’s a growing need to make the management of supplier technical performance much more effective and efficient.

DISCUS offers software solutions designed to provide real-time status tracking and workflow management, creating a comprehensive overview for both suppliers and customers alike.

With DISCUS Desktop and DISCUS Connect, you can create a single source of truth for your Technical Data Package (TDP), while reducing the time it takes to produce a First Article Inspection (AS9102, PPAP, Part 820).

The Challenges of an Expanding Supply Chain

Most companies attempt to manage the supply chain by having field engineers travel to visit their suppliers to track performance. Technical information is exchanged by sending FedEx packages and emails of PDF and XLS files.

With the advent of formal requirements for FAI and PPAP, the amount of documentation flowing back and forth between suppliers and your company becomes unmanageable. In addition, many of the production readiness reviews lack a careful analysis of the complete set of the part’s requirements. With so many different departments, businesses and individuals affecting the production of your product, ineffective or imprecise communication can grind productivity to a halt.

The DISCUS quality management software (QMS) solution eliminates this confusion by streamlining your manufacturing and planning processes. By creating transparency across the supply chain, downstream teams can review plans, reports and processes in real time.  DISCUS QMS software is designed to give you master-control quality excellence and place your business on the cutting edge of supply chain management.

Supplier Quality Management Software

The DISCUS quality management system uses DISCUS Desktop along with DISCUS Connect for a completely integrated and seamless solution. For example, the TDP and the FAI are created in DISCUS Desktop and transparently saved on a server used by DISCUS Connect.

 DISCUS Connect provides all the real-time status tracking and workflow management necessary to help your business:

  • Manage the technical performance and quality control of your supply chain.
  • Make your technical data and inspection reports easier to share.
  • Review plans, status and results of quality with remote access.
  • Create and observe a supplier portal in real time.
  • Increase your efficiency with integration to systems such as ERP.
  • Optimize your audit management and inventory management controls.
  • Streamline your internal manufacturing and quality planning processes.
  • Centralize your document management systems.

Aerospace, automotive and medical components must meet extremely high-quality standards and regulation compliance measures to ensure safety and performance. Effective communication with suppliers helps convey these requirements clearly, reducing the risk of defects or non-conformities. When used together, DISCUS Desktop and DISCUS Connect will share your intelligent TDP across the supply chain, providing your business with:

  • Timely Delivery: Timeliness is critical to meet project deadlines and avoid costly delays. Open communication allows for better coordination of production schedules and delivery timelines, minimizing the risk of supply chain disruptions. DISCUS intelligent QMS has built-in quality audit capabilities, enabling you to identify and eliminate delays in your supply chain.
  • Detailed Technical Specifications: Effective communication ensures that suppliers understand these requirements and have the necessary expertise to meet them.
  • Increased Innovation and Collaboration: By extending remote access to real-time updates, you’ll leverage the expertise of your suppliers to drive continuous improvement and stay competitive in the industry.
  • Improved Risk Management: Building strong relationships with suppliers through effective communication can help mitigate risks by enabling proactive risk management strategies and contingency planning.
  • Training Management: The real-time update capabilities of DISCUS enterprise quality management software ensure line-of-sight into the latest compliance and regulatory training tools downstream teams need to adhere to.
  • Efficient Cost Management: By working closely with suppliers to streamline processes and reduce waste, you can achieve cost savings without compromising on quality or performance.

DISCUS Solutions for Quality Management

DISCUS supports both “push” and “pull” approaches for collaboration between customer and suppliers; this allows your company or the supplier to take principal responsibility for creating the intelligent Technical Data Package. By providing a supplier collaboration portal that updates in real time, you can identify and reduce inefficiencies across the entire supply chain. 

This DISCUS Desktop and DISCUS Connect combination is very powerful for managing supplier FAIs or the more extensive PPAP.

The DISCUS solution for supplier management involves DISCUS modules packaged into a bundle:

Supplier Management Suite – DISCUS Connect includes DISCUS Desktop, DISCUS IDA® and the DISCUS Results add-ons.

You can learn more about the specific DISCUS modules on the Products page, and you can review the pricing for the discounted bundles on the Pricing page.

To experience the DISCUS QMS software difference for yourself, take advantage of our 30-day free trial.