If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -To analyze the state of supply chain quality management in manufacturing companies by testing several hypotheses regarding the knowledge these companies have about their different supply chain partners, the attributes that characterize customer-supplier relationships and the factors that determine the development of quality specifications in a supply chain, and the effect of supply chain quality management activities of companies on product quality. Design/methodology/approach -Six hypotheses related to supply chain quality management have been developed through literature review and tested using survey data from US manufacturing companies.Findings -Provides information about the results of each hypothesis, their implications, and how these findings relate to the previous literature.Research limitations/implications -The study offers insights into what the findings suggest and provides guidelines for future research to tackle issues raised by these findings. There were also some research limitations. For instance, the study relied on the perceptions of the respondents to operationalize the survey instrument, and the variables were mostly operationalized using single measures. Practical implications -The study recommends ways managers can use the study's findings to improve supply chain quality. Originality/value -This paper fills a void in the literature by focusing on quality in supply chain management.