The startup journey often feels like building a plane while you’re flying it.

At FQ, we’ve experienced this firsthand. Over the past two years, our platform has evolved, both in terms of product offerings and customers served. Shifting customer needs demand more flexibility in a platform to support them.

To ensure that FQ remains an agile solution, now and in the future, we embarked on a significant endeavor in Q1: a complete rebuild of the Factored Quality platform.

Doubling down on quality amid shifting business needs

Rewriting our entire application was a monumental task, but investing in this project was essential to ensure the long-term success of our customers, partners, and in-house experts. Our product and engineering team spent six weeks reconstructing the entire FQ application from scratch — resulting in a seamless transition at the end of March.

This overhaul was particularly tricky since it was done while we were still adding features to the original platform. We didn’t want to disrupt customers who rely on FQ to manage their product quality. Some team members were developing features that would later be rewritten in the new application. We specifically rebuilt our integrations with Anvyl (and others) to ensure they perform consistently for users. 

By completing this undertaking, we’re doing more than investing in a better platform for today’s customers. The revamped application boasts faster performance and responsiveness for a superior customer experience. The improved backend empowers our teams to create and implement new features more efficiently in the future. As we continue to scale our operations team, we’re ensuring that every new hire is an expert in the FQ platform.

Expanding our resources for consistent brand support

Throughout the extensive platform rewrite, we remained steadfast in our commitment to supporting our customers and partners. We continued to launch new partnerships with retail brands and showcase our customer stories. And our team delivered innovative resources to continue to help brands in need of better QC practices, such as:

• Quality Score Card: A comprehensive assessment to help brands compare their QC practices against industry benchmarks. By leveraging the Quality Score Card, brands gain a clear quality score with customized recommendations from the Factored Quality team.
• Compliance Gap Analysis: A clear evaluation of gaps in the fulfillment of industry regulations and standards. By thoroughly examining compliance needs, companies can confidently take action to fulfill any compliance gaps.
• Factored Quality Certified: An initiative to recognize brands’ commitment to quality control and ethical labor practices. By receiving Factored Quality certification, brands and suppliers establish themselves as quality leaders to stand out in a competitive market.

We didn't just expand our product's resources. We also expanded our own with some key product and engineering team hires. Graham Blache joined as the Head of Product & Engineering, giving us the engineering leadership needed to undertake our extensive rebuild. We also brought on two new engineers to ensure top-tier performance and grow the FQ platform.

Planning new features to simplify QC efforts

Looking ahead to Q2, our focus remains on simplifying quality control processes for our users. From product inspections and quality management to compliance workflows, here’s a peek at what’s in store:

Streamlined Inspection Booking 

Our top priority is continuing to make it easy for brands to book new inspections in Factored Quality. To best support that goal in Q2, we are launching three new features:

• Integration with NetSuite to facilitate seamless data exchange
• Bulk upload capabilities for CSVs or spreadsheets
• AI-powered PDF data extraction for purchase order

Factored Quality’s QMS

As part of our ongoing efforts to simplify quality management, we are introducing our Quality Management System (QMS). Whether brands rely solely on internal resources or require external support in specific regions, our QMS is the single source of truth for all quality-related tasks.

Innovative AI Tools

Lastly, we’re excited to introduce new AI-powered solutions to simplify QC processes. Our Compliance Analysis tool determines required compliance certifications based on product specifications. The Sentiment Analysis tool scans Amazon and Shopify reviews to gather insights and understand product quality complaints.

Experience a new and improved FQ platform

With a rebuilt application and exciting new features on the way, we’ve reinforced our commitment to quality. Simplify how your brand manages quality control through the product journey with Factored Quality.

Book a personalized demo today to get started.