From 1 Advisor to 8 Placements: A Full-Service Partnership at a Tier 1 Seating Supplier

About the Client

Our client is a Tier 1 automotive seating supplier producing complex assemblies for a major OEM platform. Their operations support a high-visibility program with strict launch expectations, demanding OEM quality standards, and tight warranty exposure. Inspection reliability, supplier accountability, and OEM interface management directly shape program health across the facility’s day-to-day operations.

Challenge

The facility was managing a complex OEM program with persistent quality challenges that were beginning to put customer standing at risk. Chronic defects on the production floor, inconsistent operator evaluations on subjective visual criteria, and a growing backlog of open customer concerns were creating friction with the OEM program team. Inspection outcomes varied operator to operator, making it difficult to defend quality decisions internally or to the customer. Response times on aged concerns were slipping, and there was no objective baseline for evaluating visual judgment on boundary defects.

Leadership needed a partner who could quickly stabilize quality performance, strengthen the OEM relationship, and bring structure to concern resolution through a focused quality advisory deployment.

Solution

MS Companies launched a quality advisory deployment by embedding a senior advisor for an initial 3-month engagement focused on stabilizing the program and elevating inspection discipline. Focus areas included:

  • Drove open concern closure, monitored supplier 8D activity, managed PPM and repair hour trending, and tightened concern aging and response time discipline to strengthen OEM standing.
  • Independently developed and executed a Gauge R&R study on end-of-line testers, curating a 50-image testing suite calibrated to OEM boundary samples to give the plant its first objective measure of operator alignment on subjective defects.
  • Translated Gauge R&R findings into focused retraining that measurably improved operator scores. Post-training results revealed hourly operators outperforming salaried staff, surfacing a critical insight about tribal knowledge versus formal training that reshaped the facility's approach to quality education.
  • Reinforced incoming goods inspection, supported PPAP and engineering change activity, and managed day-to-day OEM interface to keep the program protected during change events.
  • Led a Lunch and Learn for site leadership and presented findings across multiple facilities, positioning the Gauge R&R framework for company-wide evaluation.
  • Maintained consistent on-site presence, executive check-ins, and proactive engagement across every service line, ensuring the client always had a single point of accountability and a partner invested in the long-term health of the program.

Results

  • Gauge R&R framework eliminated subjectivity from end-of-line visual evaluations, creating a repeatable, auditable inspection standard
  • Strengthened OEM interface on concern binning, containment response, and warranty support improved standing with the customer program team
  • Operator scores increased measurably after targeted retraining, then exceeded salaried staff performance, validating formal training over institutional assumptions
  • Advisor framework presented globally and now under evaluation for multi-facility deployment across the client's network

Sustained account management and consistent service delivery built the trust that turned a 3-month advisory engagement into a multi-service partnership spanning inspection, direct hire, and contract-to-hire support.

Roles Placed

Quality Engineer, Production Supervisor, Maintenance Supervisor, Quality Technicians

Placements

6 Direct Hire | 2 Contract-to-Hire

Inspection Headcount

Typically 2–4 with capacity to scale to 30 based on program needs.

How MS Companies Can Help You

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  • We embed senior quality advisors who stabilize OEM programs, lead Gauge R&R and measurement system analysis, drive concern closure, and elevate inspection standards into auditable frameworks ready for global rollout.
  • We scale inspection capacity on demand to support launch surges, containment events, and OEM-directed sorting without disrupting plant operations, flexing team size up or down based on program needs.
  • We fill mission-critical roles including Quality Engineers, Production Supervisors, Maintenance Supervisors, and Quality Technicians through a hiring model matched to the urgency and risk profile of each opening.
  • We strengthen the customer-facing side of your program with structured 8D monitoring, PPAP and engineering change support, concern aging discipline, and OEM communication management that protects program standing.
  • Through consistent account management, regular communication, proactive support, and a focus on understanding evolving business needs, we strengthen key relationships within your organization. That investment builds the kind of trust that drives increased opportunity volume and expansion across multiple service lines over time.

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