Maker Sixty Four (M64) is an international furniture manufacturer with roots in Vietnam, known for delivering high-end furniture to clients worldwide.
Drawing on traditional craftsmanship and time-honored methods, M64 works with wood, metal, fabric, and leather to produce furniture that balances artistry with precision engineering. By blending these craft traditions with innovative machining processes, M64 produces a diverse range of high-quality furniture – from their own brands, bespoke projects and selected OEM customers.
Marcus Loke, Quality Director at M64, has been in the furniture industry since 1996 and joined the company to support the growth of its production. For M64, quality is not a department – it’s a company-wide mindset. Every piece leaving the factory must meet specific standards, and with customers receiving 2–5-year warranties, it really underlines M64’s commitment to quality as a clear and measurable goal.
“We focus on high-end quality,” Marcus explains. “Our customers expect perfection, and our systems are designed to ensure they receive exactly that."
From manual reporting to a unified digital system
As M64’s production expanded, the company identified opportunities to make its quality documentation more efficient and transparent. While its manual inspection records were thorough, consolidating and sharing them across teams took time and effort. This presented an opportunity for optimization.
“We had a solid inspection process, but as our volume grew, we wanted to make reporting faster and more connected,” Marcus explains. “Digitalizing inspections was a natural next step for scalability and responsiveness.”
Recognizing the growing inefficiencies and the toll on the company, Marcus decided to implement Qarma as part of a broader drive to modernize factory-wide workflows – enhancing data accuracy, enabling live visibility, and giving teams more time to focus on what matters: building quality in every step.
Engaging training with a QC manual and Qarma
Since onboarding, Qarma has strengthened training and consistency across its QC teams. Marcus introduced a comprehensive QC manual with key definitions, visual references, and shared benchmarks. Inspectors are encouraged to apply independent judgment, using digital checklists as tools to reinforce rather than replace critical thinking.
“We want our QC team to think analytically,” Marcus says. “It’s not just about spotting defects, but understanding the why behind every standard.”
Regular review sessions bring inspectors together to discuss cases, evaluate decisions, and share insights. This practice fosters both accountability and pride – turning every inspection into a learning opportunity.
“It’s about building that bond between me and the QC team – so they do their job properly, and I get the data I need. Then I can take that data and share it with production. That way, everyone learns.”
Building trust through transparency & accountability
For M64, data transparency with Qarma is not only about control – it’s about trust. When customers raise a concern, his goal isn’t to argue or contradict, but rather to align with customers.
“When questions arise, our goal isn’t to argue but to show clearly what we’ve done,” Marcus explains. “It’s about being transparent and demonstrating that quality was verified and documented properly.”
With Qarma, the ability to instantly retrieve inspection records, including time-stamped photos, GPS data, and detailed notes, allows the team to communicate clearly and confidently with customers.
“I can pull up the exact PO, show when the product was inspected, and even compare images before and after packaging,” he explains. “That kind of transparency gives our customers confidence in what we’re doing and that we take quality seriously.”
This approach reinforces M64’s commitment to customer partnerships built on openness and reliability.
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Real-time visibility and collaboration
By integrating Qarma into daily QC operations, M64 achieved real-time oversight without compromising craftsmanship.
Marcus and his team now receive live inspection updates, allowing for immediate follow-up if needed. This proactive approach strengthens coordination between QC, production, and logistics, allowing Marcus to stay on top of quality issues as they happen – even when he’s not on site.
"With Qarma, I can review inspections as they happen and use the data to support the production team,” Marcus says. “That immediacy helps us act faster and maintain consistency across sites.”
For the QC team, the impact has been just as meaningful. In the past, creating reports meant hours of manual work – inserting images one by one, formatting documents, and often staying late to finish. Now, inspections are completed directly on their phones, and the report is ready instantly.
The result is a leaner, more responsive workflow that gives the QC team greater autonomy while maintaining full traceability for management and clients alike.
Building quality as a shared responsibility
As a final comment, Marcus emphasizes that quality assurance is not limited to the inspection department – it begins on the production line.
By nurturing a culture of transparency and shared responsibility, the company ensures that every team member contributes to maintaining its standards.
“Quality doesn’t belong to one team,” Marcus concludes. “It belongs to everyone involved in making the product. When everyone understands that, quality becomes part of the company’s DNA.”
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