Procure IQ

Usually when there's an issue with product quality or other operational shenanigans at a strategic supplier, it's worth parachuting in a team of specialists to work out the kinks. But some suppliers -- and countries -- play by different rules, however. Consider that in the case of a really egregious supplier cock-up in China, the plant might be physically demolished before you can jet in your own Six Sigma team to improve matters. According to an article original published in the Los Angeles Times, the Chinese manufacturer accused of shipping tainted pet food chemicals to the US is no more. Literally.

The above-linked article notes that "one day last month when, in the middle of the night, bulldozers tore down the facility ... [only] days before the investigators from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration arrived in China on a mission to track down the source of the tainted pet food ingredients ... [one] U.S. inspectors [noted] ... 'There is nothing to be found. They are essentially shut down and not operating,' said Walter Batts, deputy director of the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) office of international programs." Now that's a corrective action procedure gone wild ...

- Jason Busch