Carrefour, one of the largest importers of electrical appliances in the global market has an instinct when it comes to buying. Carrefour deliberately involves KEMA in this process. No product is put on the shelf before a second opinion has been solicited from KEMA, among others. KEMA also performs Supplier Audits at production sites all over the world in commission of Carrefour. 

“That’s expensive,” will be the thought of many. But no, it’s cheaper for Carrefour now than it was before. Toke Reijs is the key Carrefour Account Manager at KEMA and maintains close ties with this French chain of stores.  KEMA knows better than any other how rationally Carrefour deals with the concept of quality. “Quality is not the final act at Carrefour. It’s an integral part of the corporate philosophy.” 

Huge amounts

“In fact, it’s simple,” contends Reijs. “You know what huge amounts you spend on guarantees, recalls, and even possible claims for damages. If you budget this and compare it with the result of what a structural second opinion does for you, then you see that it costs you less.” So Carrefour’s costs have been reduced with this sharper quality assessment. A structured investment in quality pays for itself.  

“If you let things run their course, then the testing houses in the Far East won’t be so particular. Now everyone knows that there is some critical monitoring going on and so people are doing just a tiny bit better than their best,” assures Toke Reijs. These days Carrefour has higher quality on the shelves at a lower cost. “Besides that, it has its risks covered better. Because don’t forget that importing from the Far East carries inherent risks. The fact of the matter is that precisely because labor is cheap it’s used a lot. Sometimes entire families of workers are sitting in their home assembling products. “That occurs under all sorts of intangible circumstances, with the result that the quality fluctuates. And a chain like Carrefour cannot afford to have someone get hurt because someone else working in a poorly lighted environment switched a red and a yellow wire! Apart from that, both Carrefour and the supplier are prospering under the watchful eye of KEMA. Toke Reijs: “Don’t forget what it means to a local producer if a shipment is returned or – worse yet – if he should lose Carrefour as a customer.” So more stringent quality control in Europe will lead to better production conditions in the Far East. 

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