I think this is essentially the major theme of this book:
https://www.amazon.com/Poorly-Made-China-Insiders-Production...
https://www.amazon.com/Poorly-Made-China-Insiders-Production...
A good example of a problem: supplier underbids to get the business; first and second shipment are fine, then the third has an unauthorized change because now the factory wants to cut their costs to make a profit. In the author's case IIRC it was shampoo: he ordered a set in different scents (lilac, almond, coconut perhaps?). Suddenly all he got was almond because I suppose the factory got a better deal if they bought more.
Also remember that Apple gets the quality they do by having a lot of their own personnel on site to stay on top of everything that is going on. You can't afford that.