Quality improvement through distance learning in supply chain management

The competitive market situation enforces manufacturers to take strenuous efforts to let customers purchase their products continuously. In order to prolong customer-reliance, manufacturers are responsible for increasing their productivity and customer satisfaction through the improvements in overall quality that encompasses quality of parts, products, employees, services and etc. However, initial defects on parts that occurred during the initial time of production while suppliers still have the responsibility may cause severe deterioration of the quality of final products. The countermeasure of this problem can be taken through education and training for suppliers to improve the quality of parts. This kind of quality improvement can contribute to improve the quality of products and also be a key factor for a manufacturer to gain customer trustworthiness. In the meantime, distance learning is attracting attention as the new technique for education, and its utilization is also extended to other fields. This study focuses on the field of supply chain management and applies a distance learning approach as a tool of education and training for suppliers to improve the quality of parts