I am fortunate to have had a lengthy career of more than 30 years. I have held a variety of product development positions, and these experiences have influenced my thinking about how best to get things done.

The automotive industry describes its approach to product development and manufacturing in the advanced product quality planning (APQP) process.

The story I am going to relate is true. However, since it is not very flattering, it has been sanitized to prevent finger-pointing. I’m telling this story because you may find yourself in the same circumstances when managing your supply chain, especially one distributed across the globe.