Quality trends in manufacturing are evolving from focusing on cost control to driving strategic growth, as labor shortages and rising recalls push manufacturers to invest more heavily in quality. As a result, 60% of manufacturers say they plan to increase quality investment in 2025, with many already spending up to $49.9M annually, according to ETQ’s 2025 Pulse of Quality in Manufacturing survey.
Through investing in AI-connected worker tools and accelerating QMS adoption, manufacturers are tackling their top 2025 priorities: increasing revenue (44%), improving compliance (44%) and strengthening the supply chain (43%). These drivers are shaping six key quality trends in manufacturing that are set to impact revenue, quality and the supply chain moving forward.
- Labor shortages and rising recalls have elevated quality from a cost center to a strategic driver of revenue growth and compliance.
- Sixty percent of manufacturers plan to increase their quality investment in 2025, with many already spending up to $49.9 million annually.
- Top priorities include increasing revenue (44%), improving compliance (44%) and strengthening the supply chain (43%).
Trend 1: Labor shortages are degrading quality and forcing digitization
Labor shortages have shifted from a staffing challenge to a quality crisis. Gaps on the factory floor not only slow production but also weaken compliance and margin protection.
Seventy percent of manufacturing organizations report difficulty filling critical roles. These staffing gaps are a logistical headache, and they’re also leading to inconsistent processes and increased defects. In fact, 88% of manufacturers say shortages are directly harming product quality.
To counter this impact, digitization has become essential in mitigating the impact of these workforce constraints and maintaining quality. Connected worker tools are becoming essential for organizations looking to reduce human error, standardize standard operating procedures (SOPs) and accelerate onboarding and training.
For example, the right tools can guide workers step by step through tasks to ensure that SOPs are followed. They can also provide real-time alerts when deviations occur, which reduces errors and enhances manufacturing compliance.
Trend 2: Recalls are rising and costly, intensifying control requirements
Rising recalls are more than operational setbacks; they cost millions, erode brand trust and trigger stricter audit demands. Manufacturers must strengthen documentation and controls to safeguard revenue and compliance.
Over the past five years, 75% of organizations have faced a recall, with remediation costs ranging from $10 to $49.99 million. Recalls erode brand reputation and revenue and can trigger stricter audit and documentation expectations in the future.
The financial and compliance pressures of recalls are prompting manufacturers to rethink their quality strategies. Many are investing in stronger documentation and tighter controls, which enable them to catch issues earlier and respond more effectively.
Organizations that adopt these quality trends in manufacturing position themselves to be more agile and respond faster to market changes, thereby gaining a strong competitive advantage by consistently delivering safe and reliable products to their customers. Over time, these investments can help mitigate risk and protect revenue, and ultimately reinforce a strong culture of quality.
Trend 3: Targeted quality spending is tied to increased ROI
Bigger budgets don’t guarantee stronger results. Without targeted investment, recalls persist, draining ROI. Focused spending on SQM, CAPA and frontline digitization reduces returns, audit findings and compliance risks.
Unfortunately, spending more on quality won’t automatically resolve problems, especially if managers end up allocating funds to the wrong areas. Even as budgets rise, 75% of manufacturers still report recalls. To avoid this, they must target investments that make the biggest difference.
Instead of spreading budgets across multiple initiatives, manufacturers should focus their quality investments on a few high-impact areas, such as supplier quality management (SQM), nonconformity (NC) and corrective and preventive action (CAPA) processes, as well as digitizing frontline operations.
This narrowed focus can deliver more meaningful results and give manufacturers more bandwidth to focus on preventing problems before they escalate. Strong SQM practices ensure that suppliers consistently meet quality standards and that NC/CAPA processes promptly address nonconformities. Meanwhile, frontline digitization guides employees through standardized workflows, which reduces the likelihood of costly human errors.
These targeted efforts can have widespread positive outcomes. Product returns decrease because defects are caught earlier and audits become less stressful as processes are more transparent and well-documented. It sets your organization up to achieve higher first-pass yield, fewer chargebacks and cleaner audit results, without increasing spending. This maximizes ROI and reinforces a strong culture of quality.
Trend 4: Supplier quality is tied directly to recall risk
Supply chain gaps are a direct liability, with nearly half of recalls traced to suppliers. Strengthening supplier quality management reduces escapes, mitigates recall costs and bolsters compliance posture.
Supplier performance has a significant impact on recalls, with 47% of them directly attributed to supply chain issues. Weak links upstream can quickly become costly problems later. A single defect from an upstream supplier can ripple through production, resulting in rework, customer returns, lost revenue and brand damage. Such challenges are shaping some of the most important quality trends in manufacturing.
Implementing strong supplier quality management (SQM) practices throughout your organization can help mitigate these risks. Clear approval criteria, regular scorecards, fast supplier corrective action request (SCAR) resolution and thorough incoming inspections all play a role in catching problems early.
Ultimately, manufacturers that focus on SQM and proactively manage their supply chain quality see fewer escapes and recalls and maintain a stronger compliance posture overall.
Trend 5: AI adoption is accelerating for documents and detection
AI is transitioning from pilot to practice, enabling manufacturers to shift from reactive fixes to predictive control. Strategic use cases in inspections and document management drive efficiency and audit readiness.
AI has quickly become a useful tool for improving efficiency and compliance in manufacturing. It is helping manufacturers transition from reactive to predictive decision-making by turning large volumes of data into actionable insights that anticipate issues before they occur. Such capabilities are useful for tasks such as predictive maintenance, defect detection, demand and supply forecasting, process optimization and document and workflow automation.
In fact, our survey reveals that nearly half of companies (49%) plan to use AI within the next two years, indicating a significant shift toward more automated processes and enhanced manufacturing compliance.
Manufacturers are adopting AI in several key ways, including automating document processing and routing, keeping SOPs up to date and running vision-based inspection pilots to catch defects earlier. As a result, manufacturers see higher throughput and smoother audits.
Trend 6: Safety signals are mixed, reinforcing integrated EHS+QMS
Safety and quality are closely linked, and there is significant value in manufacturers integrating Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) processes within their QMS. While our research shows that the “11–20 incidents per year” group has declined from 46% in 2024 to 41% in 2025, nearly half of companies (48%) have reported that safety incidents have increased over the past five years.
Integrating EHS workflows into your QMS during the QMS adoption process strengthens manufacturing compliance by reducing stoppages, minimizing fines and enhancing your regulatory posture. Aligning safety and quality helps your organization prevent operational disruptions, protect revenue and maintain a stronger, more resilient compliance framework.
Turning trends into measurable ROI
Quality initiatives only gain lasting executive support when they translate into measurable business impact. Directly linking supplier quality, frontline digitization and AI adoption to revenue growth and compliance strength enables manufacturers to turn trends into tangible ROI.
It’s clear that organizations that integrate supplier quality management into their QMS adoption, digitize frontline operations with connected worker tools and use AI for document control and targeted inspections can directly improve throughput, reduce defects and strengthen compliance long-term.
A practical way to turn the latest quality trends in manufacturing into measurable ROI is with a focused 90-day plan that makes your results measurable, such as the example below:
- Month 1: Benchmark current recall rates, first-pass yield (FPY) and compliance metrics to create a baseline.
- Month 2: Prioritize high-impact initiatives such as supplier quality scorecards and digitized SOP training for frontline teams.
- Month 3: Launch an AI pilot for document routing or defect detection to see technology augment human oversight.
Through monitoring your progress, you should notice fewer returns, higher FPY and reduced audit hours over time. Following this approach can also provide you with the data needed to secure executive sponsorship by clearly demonstrating how targeted quality initiatives strengthen supplier quality management and drive measurable revenue growth across your organization.
