The training of suppliers: a linear model for optimising the allocation of available hours

The cost of quality represents a relevant item in total manufacturing costs. The learning process is incorporated into contemporary models because of its impact on unitary production costs through both autonomous (learning by doing) and induced (learning by means of proactive actions) learning processes. A learning model with time-varying learning rate is proposed in order to establish the relationship between quality improvements and training hours to allocate to suppliers. The performance indicator adopted is the rate of non-conforming units, rather than the more traditional process variance. This enables definition of a novel total cost function, which can be minimised for the best allocation of training hours to suppliers during a single learning cycle. A novel criterion also emerges for the evaluation of suppliers in terms of investment opportunity. Finally, a case study was carried out in order to verify the applicability of this model to real industrial settings.