It doesn’t happen often but there are those times where factory messed up so bad on an order that you had no choice but to reject it. When an order is rejected, ever wonder what end up happening to those products? Let’s look at some of the options your supplier may explore.
Mixed in with quality product in an order before shipping
One of the worst possible scenario. This is why the initial supplier selection is so important; and why all the inspected units should somehow be marked and cannot be replaced without knowing. For the high cost items, it’s not very likely the factory will scrap them. If your supplier tells you that they will scrap the defective items, you should be present or have someone you trust during the destruction process.
Reworked/repaired
This is what most factories will tell you when defects are found. But that doesn’t mean there will be any real actions. Always have the factory re-inspect everything on their own and then rework all the issues they found. Then schedule a re-inspection after to make sure the quality issues are actually corrected.
Sold to other customers/competitors
Another likely scenario if your products do not have any logos. Factory will carry the cost if they scrap the defective products, so they will try everything they could to reuse them. Don’t be surprised if you found your products being sold in China or being sold by your competitor at a cheaper price.
Destroyed to avoid being sold
This is very uncommon unless the client is willing to pay for the products being scraped. Even if that’s the case, you should still have someone on-site during the scraping. Some manufactures will see this as being wasteful. They do not think about the brand image. Successful destruction will require supervision.
Of course, there are those ideal suppliers who will do everything the right way, but they are hard to find. For those who are not fortunate enough to have that ideal supplier, you should always have someone you trust to do inspections and on-site visits.