[Product development & quality]() / [Use cases]() / [Material substitution]() [How it works]() [What you get]() [Scope]() [Start a review]() [Product development & quality]()[Suppliers & changes]() # Qualify a substitute when a material runs short. When a material runs short, the substitute is compared on total cost and tested before it ships, with the decision kept against the revision. [Start with a development review]() [How it works]() Thread substitutes · CAT-042 Candidate Cost a jacket Tests before it ships Decision Thread A · approved, short $0.40 Already passed Unavailable Thread B · same fiber, new mill +$0.10 Wash, shrink, seam strength Test first Thread C · polyester core +$0.25 Wash, shrink, seam strength Test first The factory’s stock thread — No test on file Refuse Candidates for one material, compared on what each costs and what it must pass. ## Sound familiar? - The mill is out of the canvas and the factory suggests “something similar”. - A substitute gets swapped in on a line and nobody files it. - Nobody can say what a cheaper material really costs once tests and returns are counted. A substitute nobody qualified is a change nobody approved. It can surface months later, as returns from one lot. ## What changes. ShowTodayWith the engine Candidates Whatever the factory suggests Alternatives drawn from your approved materials and past tests Cost Price per meter Total cost: price, tests, rework and expected returns Testing A swatch and a hope A test plan sized to the risk, run by qualified people Approval A phone call A decision on record, against the revision ## How it works. 6 steps, 4 stages. - AI**1** - Rules and automation**3** - Your team**2** - Approval 1. 1 Trigger 1. Rules and automation ### Catch the shortage A mill delay, price rise or lot change flagged against every style that uses the material. - NetSuite 2. 2 Compare 1. AI ### Find qualified alternatives Approved materials, past test results and supplier alternatives compared with the spec. 2. Rules and automation ### Total the cost Price, tests, rework and expected returns for each candidate. 3. 3 Test 1. Your team Approval ### Choose the tests Quality and development decide what each candidate must pass before it ships. 4. 4 Decide 1. Your team Approval ### Approve or refuse The decision is recorded against the revision, with its conditions and the supplier. 2. Rules and automation ### Tell everyone it touches An approved substitute goes out through the change process. Approved substitutes join the material library ## What you get. Real work, every week. Decision · thread B Conditions Use thread B once the wash, shrink and seam tests pass. Why Thread A is short for the next lot Tests Wash, shrink and seam strength, run by the lab Condition The approved lot only, with the supplier acknowledging Recorded Against revision E and the factory order The decision, with its conditions, kept against the revision and the supplier. ## How you’ll know it’s working. 1. Days from shortage to a qualified alternative How long a production plan waits on a material. 2. Total cost per unit against the original The comparison that includes tests, rework and returns as well as the price. 3. Substitutes shipped without a test on file The number that should be zero. Baselines agreed before we build. ## Works with what you have. Commerce - NetSuite PLM & specs - FlexPLM - Centric PLM - Specright - Techpacker We configure first Your PLM or spec platform already holds approved materials. We start there and add the shortage trigger and the test plan. We build when A shortage reaches you by phone or email, and the alternatives aren’t on one record. ## What a first build includes. Built in your accounts, around your team. Scope, fee and baseline agreed before we start. 1. 1 Design 2. 2 Build 3. 3 Run it, or hand it over [Start with a review]() [Scope this build]() ### We build - A material trigger tied to every style that uses it - A candidate comparison on total cost and tests - Test plans for qualified people to approve - A decision record tied to the revision and supplier ### We start from - Approved materials and past test reports - Supplier alternatives and price lists - Returns by material or lot ### From your team Owner Head of development or quality lead Involves - Development - Quality - Sourcing - Factory partner ## Questions teams ask. Does AI choose the substitute? It finds and compares candidates. Quality and development choose the tests and approve the substitute, and the record shows who did. Do you handle formulations or engineered parts? Not on our own. Scientific formulation and engineered-product CAD are specialist work, so we’d work with a specialist partner and keep the evidence and the decision on your product record. Who owns it once it’s running? You do. It’s built in your accounts, documented, with training for the people who run it. Ownership usually sits with your head of development or quality lead. We can keep running it with you, or step back. How do we start? Usually with a development review: two to four weeks, a fixed fee credited to the build, and a plan that’s yours. If the job is already clear, we can scope the build directly. ## Part of your development engine. One of 12 use cases, in 5 parts. [See the whole development engine]() 1. [Briefs **1**]() 2. [Specs & samples **4**]() 3. [Suppliers & changes **3**]() 4. [Release **2**]() 5. [Quality loop **2**]() In suppliers & changes - [**Quote comparison**Compare supplier quotes against the approved spec]() - [**Specification change**Trace a specification change to everyone it touches]() - **Material substitution**You’re here Works with - [**Corrective action**Turn recurring quality issues into fixes that stick]() ## Qualify the substitute before it ships. Start with a development review. [Start with a development review]() [**Talk it through first**15 minutes]() We reply within one business day. --- Source: [https://www.thekeating.co/use-cases/material-substitution/]() [Contact Keating & Co](mailto:nelson@thekeating.co) · [Agent guidance](https://www.thekeating.co/llms.txt)