1factory's quality management solutions serve the complete industrial and agricultural equipment supply chain — from OEMs designing and assembling heavy equipment, construction machinery, and agricultural systems, to Tier 1 manufacturers producing motion control systems, hydraulics, and gear assemblies, to Tier 2 parts manufacturers creating precision components.
Supported Standards: 1factory supports ISO 9001 (Quality Management Systems), ISO 14001 (Environmental Management), and industry-specific quality frameworks for construction equipment, agricultural machinery, and industrial automation.
Multi-Site Operations: Many industrial and agricultural equipment manufacturers operate globally with production facilities across multiple continents. 1factory's federated QMS capabilities enable corporate quality standards while accommodating site-specific requirements across all manufacturing locations.
For Equipment OEMs
Companies Like: Caterpillar, John Deere, CNH Industrial, AGCO, Komatsu, Hitachi Construction, Liebherr, Parker Hannifin, Eaton, Rexroth (Bosch), Danfoss, and Moog
Key Challenge: Managing global supplier networks while ensuring consistent quality across hundreds or thousands of components. Equipment failures in the field are extremely costly — a failed hydraulic pump on a harvester during harvest season or a defective transmission in construction equipment on an active job site results in significant downtime, expensive emergency repairs, and damage to customer relationships. Quality teams must track supplier performance across motion control systems, hydraulic assemblies, gear drives, electrical systems, and structural components while maintaining ISO 9001 certification and responding to warranty claims that trace back to supplier quality issues.
Key Functionality
Supplier Quality Management: Industrial and agricultural equipment OEMs source from hundreds of suppliers providing motion control systems, hydraulic components, gearboxes, structural steel assemblies, electrical harnesses, and precision machined parts. Each supplier must maintain ISO 9001 certification and meet customer-specific quality requirements. The supplier portal standardizes how suppliers submit quality documentation, including First Article Inspection reports, PPAP packages, dimensional inspection data, material certifications, and process capability studies.
When suppliers upload data, the system validates completeness automatically — checking for required approvals, verifying measurement data is within specification, and confirming material certifications match purchase order requirements. Missing documentation triggers immediate notifications to suppliers, preventing delays in production schedules. All submissions are stored with full traceability, enabling rapid response to field failures that require investigation of specific supplier lots.
Supplier PPAP and Process Capability: For critical components like hydraulic pumps, gear assemblies, or load-bearing structural parts, OEMs require suppliers to demonstrate process control before approving production. Suppliers can build all required PPAP documentation in 1factory, including Control Plans showing how critical characteristics are monitored, PFMEAs identifying potential failure modes and prevention methods, Initial Sample Inspection Reports with full dimensional data, and Process Capability Studies (Cpk) proving the manufacturing process is stable and capable of consistently producing parts within specification.
Reviewers evaluate whether suppliers have identified the right failure modes, whether control methods are adequate, and whether demonstrated process capability meets requirements. For high-stress applications like construction equipment lift cylinders or agricultural equipment drive shafts, Cpk requirements of 1.67 or higher ensure suppliers have robust processes with adequate safety margins.
Supplier Lot-Specific Inspection Data: With 1factory's connected supplier capability, OEMs access parameter-level inspection data from suppliers in real-time. When a supplier produces a batch of hydraulic valve bodies or gear housings, inspection measurements flow directly to the OEM's quality system. This visibility enables early identification of process drift — if a supplier's bore diameters are trending toward the upper specification limit, the OEM can work with the supplier to investigate tooling wear before defective parts are produced and shipped.
Incoming Quality Control: Not all components require the same level of inspection. With 1factory's lot-switching capabilities, high-performing suppliers with excellent track records receive reduced inspection, while suppliers with quality issues face 100% inspection until they demonstrate sustained improvement. The system automatically adjusts inspection plans based on supplier and part performance, implementing Normal, Reduced, or Tightened sampling per ANSI/ASQ Z1.4 standards.
For critical safety components like brake assemblies or steering components, incoming inspection always includes verification of critical dimensions and material properties, regardless of supplier performance. Material certificates and heat treat certifications are verified against specifications and stored with the inspection record for complete traceability. When field failures occur, this traceability enables rapid identification of affected lots and quick determination of root cause.
Supplier Performance Tracking: Real-time scorecards display supplier performance across quality acceptance rates, on-time delivery, SCAR response time, and field failure rates. Trend analysis identifies suppliers with deteriorating performance before problems impact production. Segment suppliers by performance tier to focus development resources where they're needed most. Executive dashboards provide supply chain quality overview without requiring manual report compilation.
"The time savings and reporting accuracy just went through the roof with 1factory, and so many of my tasks have been simplified. For example, when I go meet with a vendor I can pull up 1factory and be confident that I have the whole picture for all the parts they've sent us. No way was that possible before 1factory - I'd have to spend hours digging up all their inspection sheets, plugging the results into pivot tables, and hoping my Excel sheets didn't break down on me. All of this work, and the report I showed to suppliers was still not very clear." — Robin B., Quality Manager, Orbit Irrigation
For warranty tracking, the system makes it easy to trace field failures to specific supplier lots. This data supports rapid problem solving, drives supplier development initiatives, and informs future sourcing decisions for critical components.
Federated Quality Management System: Equipment OEMs often operate manufacturing facilities across North America, Europe, Asia, and South America. 1factory's Federated (Multi-Org) QMS capabilities effortlessly manage corporate and site-specific procedures and work instructions. Corporate quality standards apply globally, while site-specific documents address local regulatory requirements or unique production processes. Assign and track document approvals and training across all sites from a single platform.
The dynamic Quality Matrix links requirements (clauses) from ISO 9001 and customer-specific standards directly to procedures, ensuring complete coverage. 1factory automates training assignment and tracking — whether it's for a new document, a new version of a document, a new hire, or a person moving to a new role. This automation cuts audit prep time by 80%, ensuring audit-readiness across all global locations without manual compilation of training records and procedure compliance evidence.
OEM Return on Investment
Supplier PPAP and FAI review becomes 50% faster when all submissions arrive through a standardized portal in consistent formats. Engineering teams spend less time chasing missing documentation and more time evaluating whether suppliers have adequate process control. SCAR processing accelerates dramatically — 70% faster closure times — when suppliers work through structured 8D workflows rather than email chains.
Supplier performance reporting that once required manually compiling data from multiple sources now generates automatically. Incoming inspection planning adjusts automatically based on supplier performance rather than requiring quality engineers to manually modify inspection plans after supplier issues emerge.
Field failure reduction comes from early identification of supplier issues before defective components are shipped to production. Proactive supplier development based on real-time data prevents problems rather than reacting after warranty claims accumulate. Warranty costs decrease when incoming inspection catches defects before they enter production and reach customers.
For Tier-1 System and Component Manufacturers
Companies Like: Parker Hannifin, Eaton, Bosch Rexroth, Danfoss, Moog, Husco International, Sauer Danfoss, Poclain Hydraulics, Brevini Power Transmission, Dana Incorporated, ZF Friedrichshafen, and Sumitomo Drive Technologies
Key Challenge: Producing complex systems like hydraulic pumps, motion control assemblies, gear drives, and power transmission systems while managing suppliers and meeting customer quality requirements. Teams must submit quality documentation to equipment OEM customers while receiving FAI and PPAP from their own suppliers of castings, forgings, seals, bearings, and precision machined components. Process capability and reliability are critical — a hydraulic pump failure on a combine during harvest or a transmission failure on construction equipment results in significant customer downtime and expensive warranty claims.
Tier-1 Solutions
Supplier FAI and PPAP Management: Tier 1 manufacturers receive FAI and PPAP packages from suppliers of castings (pump housings, valve bodies, gear housings), forgings (drive shafts, connecting rods), precision machined components (pistons, valve spools, gear teeth), seals and O-rings, and bearings. The challenge is ensuring supplier documentation meets not only internal quality standards but also the specific requirements from Caterpillar, John Deere, or other OEM customers.
The platform enables teams to review and approve supplier submissions, track which suppliers are ready for production and which are blocking program launches, and forward approved supplier documentation to OEM customers as part of larger system PPAP packages. When an OEM requires specific process capability indices or additional testing for safety-critical components, these requirements flow through to component suppliers.
Manufacturing Quality Control with Process Capability: Hydraulic pump manufacturing requires precise control of critical dimensions, surface finishes, and assembly torques. When an operator machines a pump housing on a CNC mill, the system records process parameters, inspection results, and gage calibration status. If critical bore diameters drift toward specification limits, automatic alerts notify quality engineers and production supervisors before defective parts are produced.
Assembly operations involve torque verification, leak testing, and performance testing. Electronic travelers guide operators through each assembly step with clear work instructions and photos. Operators cannot advance to the next step until completing required inspections and providing electronic confirmations. When a hydraulic pump completes final testing, all manufacturing and inspection data — from raw casting incoming inspection through final performance validation — is compiled automatically into a complete production record.
Statistical Process Control and Capability Monitoring: Process capability is critical for high-reliability components. Real-time SPC monitors critical characteristics as parts are produced, with control charts updating continuously and capability indices (Cp, Cpk, Pp, Ppk) calculating automatically. When Cpk values fall below customer requirements (often 1.67 for safety-critical components), alerts trigger investigations before customer audits identify the issue.
Historical trending reveals patterns that predict problems. If gear tooth measurements are drifting, cutting tool wear is likely. If hydraulic housing bore dimensions show increasing variation, machine spindle bearings may be wearing. These early warnings allow proactive intervention — replacing cutting tools or scheduling machine maintenance before producing defective parts.
CMM Data Collection with Full Traceability: Complex components like gear housings, hydraulic valve bodies, and pump assemblies have hundreds of critical dimensions requiring CMM verification. The platform integrates with all major CMM brands, uploading measurement data automatically when programs complete. Features match to inspection plans automatically, out-of-tolerance measurements trigger immediate alerts, and the complete measurement dataset is stored with full traceability to the specific CMM used, calibration status, operator, and timestamp.
PPAP Creation for OEM Customers: When submitting PPAP packages to John Deere, Caterpillar, or other equipment OEMs, Tier 1 manufacturers must provide comprehensive documentation. The platform compiles Control Plans showing how critical characteristics are monitored, PFMEAs with failure modes and control methods, Initial Sample Inspection Reports with full dimensional data from CMM measurements, Process Capability Studies proving Cpk values meet requirements, Material Certifications from steel suppliers and heat treaters, and Performance Test Results from hydraulic flow testing or gear tooth contact pattern verification.
Customer-specific formats are built in — Caterpillar's documentation requirements, John Deere's specific PPAP levels, CNH Industrial's additional testing requirements. The system generates complete PPAP packages in customer-required formats, reducing PPAP creation time from weeks to days.
Quality Management System: ISO 9001 certification and ongoing compliance require documented procedures, work instructions, and training records. 1factory's dynamic Quality Matrix links ISO 9001 requirements directly to procedures, ensuring complete coverage. Training assignment becomes automatic, and audit preparation transforms from weeks of scrambling to gather evidence into hours of report generation.
Tier-1 Return on Investment
PPAP creation time drops from 40 hours to 8 hours — an 80% reduction. Automated data collection from CMMs eliminates manual transcription, recovering 100% of time previously spent entering measurements. Control Plan creation that previously required reviewing multiple documents and spreadsheets now compiles automatically from inspection plans and process data.
Quality improvements protect business relationships and reduce warranty exposure. Real-time SPC detects process drift early, preventing production of defective components that result in field failures. Process capability monitoring ensures Cpk values meet customer requirements before customer audits identify deficiencies. Complete traceability satisfies customer audits and enables rapid response to field failures.
The business impact extends beyond time savings. Manufacturers win more business by demonstrating superior quality systems to prospective customers through customer portal access and real-time data visibility. They scale production without proportionally adding quality staff — automation and electronic workflows let existing teams handle increased volume while maintaining compliance.
For Tier-2 Precision Parts Manufacturers
Companies Like: Precision machining shops, gear manufacturers, forging suppliers, casting producers, fabrication shops, and component manufacturers supporting industrial and agricultural equipment supply chains
Key Challenge: Producing precision components for hydraulic systems, gear drives, motion control assemblies, and structural components while meeting tight tolerances and process capability requirements. Creating complete dimensional inspection reports with full traceability, managing CMM data from multiple measurement systems, proving process capability through SPC and Cpk calculations, and responding to customer PPAP and FAI requests faster than competitors.
Tier-2 Solutions
Ballooning and First Article Inspection: Industrial and agricultural equipment components often have 150-400 features requiring inspection — gear housings with multiple bore diameters and mounting surfaces, hydraulic valve bodies with precision holes and intricate porting, or structural weldments with critical flatness and position tolerances. Manual ballooning takes 4-6 hours as engineers identify dimensions, add balloon numbers, and document GD&T requirements.
The automated ballooning engine completes this work in minutes, recognizing geometric dimensioning and tolerancing symbols, identifying critical dimensions based on tolerance tightness, and handling multi-view drawings without manual intervention. Once ballooning is complete, the system generates inspection plans automatically with appropriate measurement methods for each characteristic.
CMM Data Collection and Integration: CMM operators traditionally finish measurement programs, then spend hours manually typing data into quality systems. For a hydraulic housing with 200+ measured features, manual data entry takes 2-3 hours and introduces opportunities for transcription errors. The platform eliminates this entirely.
When Zeiss, Keyence, Mitutoyo, PCDMIS, Hexagon, Brown & Sharpe, or Faro CMMs complete measurement routines, data uploads automatically. Features match to ballooned drawings without manual intervention. Out-of-tolerance measurements trigger immediate alerts to quality engineers and operators. This works across 20+ CMM systems as well as portable CMMs and laser trackers.
Statistical Process Control and Process Capability: Industrial equipment customers require demonstrated process capability, often Cpk ≥ 1.67 for critical characteristics. The platform provides real-time SPC with control charts updating as operators inspect parts, capability indices calculating continuously, and trend analysis identifying process drift before parts go out of specification.
For gear manufacturers, tooth profile and lead measurements must demonstrate capability. For hydraulic component producers, bore diameters, surface finish, and concentricity are critical. Historical trending reveals patterns — if bore diameters are drifting upward, tool wear is likely. If surface finish is degrading, cutting parameters may need adjustment. Early warnings enable proactive intervention before producing defective parts.
PPAP Documentation Creation: When customers require PPAP submissions, the platform compiles complete packages including Part Submission Warrant (PSW), Appearance Approval Report (if applicable), Dimensional Results from CMM measurements, Material and Performance Test Results, Initial Process Studies showing process capability, Measurement System Analysis (Gage R&R), Control Plan, and Process Flow Diagram.
Customer-specific requirements are accommodated — whether Caterpillar requires additional environmental testing documentation, John Deere specifies particular PPAP levels with different documentation sets, or Parker Hannifin requests additional reliability data. The system generates complete packages in required formats.
Gage Calibration Management: Measurement equipment must be calibrated regularly to ensure accuracy. The platform tracks calibration due dates for all gages, generates automatic reminders when calibration is approaching, stores calibration certificates with full traceability, and prevents use of out-of-calibration equipment by alerting operators if they attempt to use expired gages.
When customer auditors ask to see gage calibration records for measurements taken six months ago, the system generates reports immediately showing which gages were used, their calibration status at the time of measurement, and the calibration certificates proving they were within tolerance.
Quality Management System: ISO 9001 certification and ongoing compliance require documented procedures, work instructions, and training records. 1factory's dynamic Quality Matrix links ISO 9001 requirements directly to procedures, ensuring complete coverage and simplifying gap analysis during certification or surveillance audits. Training assignment becomes automatic, and audit preparation transforms from weeks of manual effort into hours of automated report generation.
Tier-2 Return on Investment
First Article Inspection time drops from 6 hours to 1 hour — an 83% reduction. CMM data transcription is eliminated completely, recovering 100% of time previously spent manually entering measurements. Dimensional report creation that took 2-3 hours now completes in 10 minutes. PPAP creation falls from 40 hours to 8 hours — an 80% reduction. Gage calibration planning becomes automatic with scheduled reminders and stored certificates accessible instantly.
Quality improvements protect manufacturing reputation and customer relationships. Real-time SPC detects process drift early, preventing scrap from tool wear or machine issues. Catching problems before producing defective parts reduces scrap costs and avoids the reputation damage of delivering defective components to industrial or agricultural equipment customers.
The business impact extends to competitive advantage. Manufacturers win more quotes by responding to PPAP and FAI requests faster than competitors still using manual documentation. They scale production without proportionally adding inspection staff — automation and integrated CMM data collection let existing teams handle increased volume. They build customer confidence through superior quality systems and transparent real-time reporting, differentiating themselves in a competitive market.