60 years old | “Don’t choose the best from the cheapest, but the cheapest from the best,” advises the supply chain supervisor

“You don’t have to have a visa to situations that the intelligent would survive, ”says the quality master Kaj von Weissenberg.

He refers to his changed way of thinking with age. In her sixties, she wants to avoid unnecessary risks and understand the importance of anticipation.

Equally, the idea could be applied to his career: for the past 16 years, he has been dedicated to working on supply chain certification – that is, for example, to get what customers order from industry.

“It’s in the customer’s interest to know the supplier and his network as accurately as possible to avoid unpleasant surprises,” he says.

If, for example any ambiguity in the supplier’s liability, reliability or safety may result in significant damage to the customer.

During a pandemic, the importance of supply chains has become more prominent.

We could also be prepared for these situations, von Weissenberg points out.

“So it’s not like you bid first and then choose the best one. Instead, it’s worth looking at who can be sure to deliver what you want and choosing the most affordable one. ”

So – don’t choose the best of the cheapest, but the cheapest of the best. “There’s just a small difference in that!” He exclaims.

Von Weissenberg recalls how in Finland Finland also became enthusiastic about low-cost Asian countries.

“It was believed that going to China would be a success. I just went there to get a cheap price when I should have made sure the thing also works. When the problems were solved and the change of manufacturer changed, the price benefit achieved evaporated. ”

Recently, more and more companies have woken up to supplier control, von Weissenberg says.

“However, it is not due to a pandemic, but to responsibility. We want to make sure that suppliers act responsibly. Before that, the criterion was safety, before that the ability to produce quality. ”

Von Weissenberg himself is originally a graduate engineer in electrical engineering. He earned a Quality Auditor qualification and a Master of Quality (MQ) degree in the early 1990s, and ended up in the database company Oracle in 1995. There, he was responsible for quality and operational development in Finland and the Baltic countries.

“In 2005, I set up a network of quality masters for MQ graduates.”

Within the framework of the network, a partnership between subscribers and suppliers was launched to benefit both parties.

Von Weissenberg invited the main suppliers in the technology industry to a common table, and thus the world’s first third-party supplier evaluation model was born.

In the Green Card Quality Productivity Assessment Model, supply chain suppliers are verified by an independent professional evaluator with the collective authorization of subscribers.

The model was wanted for the cleaning sector and soon for the construction sector. Finally, the third-party assessment model was standardized at the Center for Standardization in the Process Industry in 2015.

Developing it has been a kind of life’s work that now benefits society as a whole, von Weissenberg says with satisfaction.

Today, subscribers directly contact von Weissenberg, who is responsible for the supplier evaluation business at Kiwa Inspecta. Tasks continue to include audits and training of evaluators. This year, he has also launched an internationalization project.

“I have visited about a thousand companies to evaluate, in 17 different countries. If you feel something is wrong right from the start, it will often be confirmed at the latest when I go into production. ”

It is important still not to appear to be a besserwisser. In general, companies are kind to outsiders, even if the questions are tricky.

“There is fear, especially in small firms, and it needs to be overcome in the first 20 seconds. I offer the opportunity to show where the company is good. And if there are any problems, I’ll tell you how to fix them. ”

The engineer has also become a convincing performer. It has been helped by a show band that has been together with his wife for twenty years, von Weissenberg reveals.

“Performing is not only a lot of fun, but also helped as an educator and auditor. The fear of appearing is long gone. I’m not worried about anything anymore. Estrad even thirsts. ”