Whalen is a pioneering furniture company that designs and produces a wide range of products - from office and dining furniture to bedroomsets and industrial shelving for major retailers. As the company has grown, maintaining high-quality standards across multiple factories has become increasingly critical
Chris Neill, Executive Vice President for Asia Operations at Whalen, has over 20 years of experience in retail, furniture, home décor, and textiles. Chris shares how Whalen took action to track and improve quality performance at every stage of production.
Uncovering your QC Gaps
At Whalen, quality control (QC) is embedded in every step of production. Whalens QC teams conduct inspections on both inbound materials, assembly, packaging, final production, and container audits before containers leave the factory.
“The QC process itself hasn’t changed – we still perform the same type of inspections to ensure it meets the specific standards of each customer,” Chris explains. “But what has changed is the workflow of how we document and track.”
Previously, defects were often fixed without being properly reported. Now, by documenting every finding, Whalen has a clear baseline for factory performance, allowing them to identify patterns and where training is needed
“Our goal isn’t to catch QC teams making mistakes,” Chris says. “It’s about identifying gaps in training so we can strengthen our processes and improve quality overall.”
Creating one source of truth
Whalen’s main goal in adopting Qarma was to centralize data, creating one source of truth for factory performance. By automating their QC documentation, they’ve optimized workflows and reduced the time QC teams spend on administrative tasks.
“The biggest win for our QC team is eliminating manual data entry,” Chris explains. “Instead of taking notes on paper or a phone and then spending hours transferring them into reports, they now take a picture, and it’s automatically uploaded into Qarma. That alone saves them at least 20% of their time.”
For management, real-time reporting ensures transparency. “The same feature that saves our QC team time also guarantees that the data I see is unfiltered and accurate, ”Chris adds. “If an issue isn’t documented in the moment, it doesn’t get added later. That’s critical for establishing a real baseline of factory performance.”
With this structured approach, Whalen can hold factories accountable, track long-term performance, and refine their training efforts to continually improve quality.
Identify your baseline and improve
Data-driven quality has enabled Whalen to identify exactly where improvements are needed.
“Some factories might be strong in finishing, while others struggle with assembly,” Chris explains. “The data helps us figure out who needs training in specific areas.”
By establishing a clear baseline, Whalen can take a proactive approach to quality improvements.
“Qarma gives us the information we need to execute on our goal – improving quality through targeted training,” says Chris.
Making quality measurable = Making suppliers accountable
Before using Qarma, quality data wasn’t consistently captured, making it difficult to evaluate products, factory performance, and team effectiveness. Now, Whalen not only collects the right data but ensures it can be trusted. Because without trust, real improvement isn’t possible.
“You can’t fully utilize data if you’re not confident in how it’s being captured,” Chris points out.
By standardizing reporting and requiring real-time documentation, Whalen has strengthened accountability. “If there’s a defect, I don’t need 15 pictures- I need one good one that clearly shows the issue,” Chris says. “But the key is that reporting defects and capturing images holds people accountable.”
“Accountability is the biggest shift in our workflow, process, and overall approach. And accountability is everything.”
Less blame, more ownership
The biggest transformation at Whalen has been a mindset shift across teams. “Our team now understands the importance of data,” Chris says. “With real, documented insights, there’s no denying where improvements are needed.”
This shift has helped elevate QC performance and drive continuous improvement.
“When you have the data, it’s clear where training is needed. That helps us grow, not just as a company, but as a team committed to quality.”
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