Your manufacturing process is plagued by quality control issues. How can you ensure they don't happen again?

It seems to me that in many industries, it is not a question of ‘Which is the best tool to use?’ but simply ‘We must get into the habit of using the strength of the team to problem solve and better understand the process. No longer can we rely on the experience of the gurus and a misplaced belief that controls will stop problems reaching the customers’.

Sure thing! So, when you want to make things better, you start by figuring out the big issues. There's this handy tool called Pareto analysis that follows the 80/20 rule – meaning, 80% of the problems usually come from 20% of the causes. To use it, you collect data on how often issues happen and how much they mess things up. Then, you make a list from the most common to the least. Picture this in a chart, and voila! You see which few things are causing most of the problems. It's like finding the key troublemakers so you can fix them first.

En mettant en place des CAPA efficaces! Pour cela la root cause doit être identifiée. Pour identifier la root cause, des investigations robustes doivent être effectuées. Il faut une équipe multidisciplinaire qui maitrise les techniques d'investigations. La formation aux techniques d'investigations est donc nécessaire pour que le travail puisse être effectué en équipe

Overcoming quality issues is an ongoing process, whatever business we are dealing with, as your strategy to overcome those issues should be reassessed periodically to validate their effectiveness. FMEA or failure mode effect analysis is an effective tool, as it deals with unforeseen quality failures or forecasted ones as risks that should be looked up and assessed before starting the process. FMEA helps in prioritizing quality issues and recommends specific controls or actions to mitigate identified risks, controls could be design changes, process improvement, testing, inspection, or team training. FMEA is used as well for continuous improvement, as it's an iterative process that can be revisited and updated throughout the project lifecycle

Prioritize like a pro. 80% of your problems come from just 20% of the causes. Find those "vital few" and watch your quality soar. Engage your team: Involve everyone in identifying and prioritizing issues for greater buy-in. Quantify impact: Consider not just frequency but also cost, customer impact, and brand reputation.

Absolutely, let's simplify it. When you've spotted the big problems, you want to know why they're happening. There's a nifty tool called a fishbone diagram for this. Imagine the problem as the fish's head, and then draw branches for different causes like materials, methods, people, etc. Under each branch, jot down specific things that might be causing trouble. It's like a roadmap to figure out why things are going wrong. By doing this, you dig deep to find the real reasons behind the issues so you can fix them from the root.

Basic conditions on all Four Ms - Men, Machine, Materials and Methods Ofcourse the fifth M - Morale which will be generally down in situations be also addressed suitably!

One of the Important aspects of quality control is to ensure that the problem is not repeatable. I often observed teams perform efficiently using Fishbone Analysis, During the Fishbone Analysis team interaction plays a huge role in determining the potential causes. I would personally recommend teams to rank the potential root causes in the order of 1 to 3 and start working on them with the cross-functional teams. Doing so it will help the team to achieve success in the problem-solving activity and also help the teams to capture lessons learned for the future projects considering the depth of fishbone analysis a team would perform.

Identificar as causas raiz dos problemas de qualidade é crucial. O uso de um diagrama espinha de peixe, ou diagrama de causa e efeito, facilita o brainstorming e a organiza??o das possíveis causas. Ao representar as categorias principais, como materiais, métodos, máquinas, pessoas, ambiente e medi??o, você pode identificar fatores específicos contribuintes. Essa abordagem direcionada permite uma compreens?o mais profunda das causas subjacentes, possibilitando a elimina??o eficaz dos defeitos de qualidade.

The best results are obtained if you are not led by a pre-assumption of what caused the problem. Mostly the problem will not be down to 1 specific issue but will be alignment of several issues that caused the problem. If you address only one issue you will have reoccurrence of the same problem, hence the fishbone diagram is a good tool as it forces you to investigate and test the different type of main causes resulting in getting to the corrective action to be taken in order to eliminate reoccurrence of the same problem.

The 5 Whys method offers a structured yet flexible approach to problem-solving in quality assurance. Its simplicity and effectiveness make it a valuable tool for organizations striving for continuous improvement. However, it requires careful application and critical thinking to ensure that the true root causes are identified.

Root cause determination is simple The first reaction is to say it’s a human error But in fact, when you deep dive, you discover that behind that, it’s much more Confidence is key in order to talk with the involved person to discover how the mistake happened

A técnica dos 5 porquês é uma abordagem eficaz para investigar a causa raiz de problemas de qualidade. Ao repetir a pergunta "por que" várias vezes, você pode explorar camadas mais profundas de causalidade. Essa técnica é valiosa para desvendar conex?es ocultas e suposi??es subjacentes que impactam a qualidade de um produto ou processo. Ao investigar sistematicamente, você pode identificar e abordar as origens dos problemas, promovendo melhorias significativas na qualidade. Sempre lembrando de encontrar o porque limite pois sen?o torna um ciclo infinito e nada a somar.

Every tool present in the QA arsenal is as good as the wielder - you could be the brightest technical mind, understand every process perfectly but your social skills are not up to par, you will never find out the correct root cause (or causes) as you need to be able to relate to all hierarchies within the organization, ask the right 5Why's in front of the line/machine operator as well as his line manager. And, if you are reading this as a newly promoted QA Engineer, don't be afraid to ask more than 5 Whys - as many as you need, to get the full picture of what happened. Lastly, whilst investigating root causes during my ten years tenure as a QA professional, 95% of the failures were systemic - if a human error appeared, the system allowed it

5 Whys is a root cause analysis tool that involves asking repetitive "Why" questions to uncover the underlying cause. First you need to identify the problems and then ask why the cause happened, and so on until you find the source.

PDCA cycle or Deming Cycle is a tool used to promote incremental changes and monitoring in the process and organisation. As per ISO 9001 it includes — Plan: establish the objectives of the system and its processes, and the resources needed to deliver results in accordance with customers’ requirements and the organization’s policies, and identify and address risks and opportunities; — Do: implement what was planned; — Check: monitor and measure processes and the resulting products and services against policies, objectives, requirements and planned activities, and report the results; — Act: take actions to improve performance, as necessary.

O ciclo PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) oferece uma abordagem sistemática e cíclica para melhorar continuamente a qualidade. Ao planejar, executar, monitorar e agir, você cria um processo dinamico que se adapta às mudan?as e aprimora constantemente seus padr?es de qualidade. Essa metodologia estruturada permite uma gest?o eficiente de a??es de melhoria, garantindo que suas metas de qualidade sejam atingidas e mantidas ao longo do tempo.

O ciclo PDCA (Plan, Do, Check, Act) é útil para promover melhoria contínua. Planejar estabelece metas, fazer implementa a a??o, verificar avalia os resultados e agir ajusta e aprimora, garantindo um processo iterativo de aperfei?oamento. A rigidez do ciclo PDCA pode ser vista como limitante em ambientes dinamicos, onde a flexibilidade é crucial. Além disso, a falta de ênfase na criatividade pode tornar as solu??es menos inovadoras. Ao melhorar o atendimento ao cliente, o PDCA pode ser aplicado planejando a implementa??o de novos procedimentos (Plan), testando essas mudan?as em uma fase limitada (Do), avaliando os resultados e o feedback dos clientes (Check) e, finalmente, ajustando os procedimentos com base nesses resultados (Act).

Plan, Do, Check, Act - your quality improvement blueprint. Define your goals, test solutions, and iterate for continuous progress. Celebrate small wins: Recognize and reward progress within each cycle to maintain motivation. Adapt and iterate: Be flexible and willing to adjust your plan based on findings and evolving needs.

O ciclo PDCA é um dos mais famosos métodos de gest?o, que foca na solu??o de problemas e melhoria de processos das empresas e organiza??es. Ele é a base da melhoria contínua, que visa sempre atingir resultados melhores. Na busca constante pela qualidade , tal ferramenta pode ser útil na otimiza??o de diretrizes de controle , aperfei?oamento das atividades , integra??o das etapas produtivas e aprimoramento contínuo dos processos. Destaco ainda como uma excelente oportunidade de integrar e equipe, fortalecendo a atua??o da organiza??o .

Control charts should be used to monitor variation in the manufacturing process systematically. Mainly establishing upper and lower control limits based on historical data. Regularly collecting and plotting data points on the chart. Deviations outside the limits signal potential quality issues to be corrected asap. This proactive approach allows for timely intervention and continuous improvement, ensuring a more stable and controlled manufacturing process, thus preventing recurrence of quality control issues.

“Aquilo que n?o se controla, n?o se melhora “ frase muito falada no ambiente produtivo e de servi?os , mais que resume perfeitamente o que é necessário ser feito para evoluir e garantir os requisitos necessários de qualidade e competitividade . As cartas e/ou gráficos de controle s?o ferramentas essenciais para esse processo , simples e objetivas facilitam a identifica??o dos pontos a serem trabalhados

O gráfico de controle é uma ferramenta vital para monitorar a varia??o do processo e manter a qualidade ao longo do tempo. Ao representar visualmente a média e os limites de controle, você pode identificar de forma rápida e eficaz quaisquer altera??es ou tendências anormais em seu processo. Isso permite interven??es oportunas e a aplica??o de a??es corretivas para garantir que seus padr?es de qualidade sejam mantidos dentro de limites aceitáveis. Essa abordagem proativa é fundamental para a sustentabilidade e melhoria contínua da qualidade.

Control charts is a statistical tool to monitor and control the process over time. It is used to identify variation within the process and determine whether the process is a significant deviation that requires attention. This is a visual representation and collecting data points from the process and plotting the data in the chart.

Control charts can provide a visual representation of how the process is performing. It can help identify the process baseline and natural variations that occur in a process. After understanding this baseline common cause variation, it can help distinguish between normal variation and abnormal patterns that may indicate a problem. Recognizing different patterns and trends like shifts, clustering, cyclical variation, seasonal patterns, etc can help quality control teams to make informed decisions.

Les cercles de qualité ou les sessions de brainstorming. Ces petites réunions permettent de discuter avec les principaux acteurs des problèmes survenus et des solutions possibles. En ne minimisant aucune idée et en suscitant par la suite la discussion et la prioritisation des causes, ceci permettrait d’identifier et d’éliminer les problèmes. Cela permet aussi de prévenir des soucis éventuels en adressant les autres risques

Engage the team members. Teach the team the principles and how to use the tools - develop a continuous improvement culture. Consider the entire range of TQM tools. Flowcharts: represent processes and identify areas for improvement visually. Check Sheets: forms for collecting and organizing data. Pareto Analysis: Identifies and prioritizes the most significant factors contributing to a problem. Cause and Effect Diagrams (Fishbone or Ishikawa diagrams): identify and analyze the root causes of problems. Control Charts: Monitors the stability and performance of processes over time. Histograms: Represent data distribution to identify patterns and variations. Scatter Diagrams: the relationship between two variables to identify correlations.

First step is to do Paretto Analysis on Quality rejection PPM. Identify the parts (20 percent) causing major rejections. Identify the problems in each part Do G8D problem solving method for each problem- thorough analysis in all steps. Includes Why, Why analysis, Is- Is not analysis, Changes identification, Root cause statement, Actions and for the Cause, Implementation of Actions, Review of Implemented actions and its Effectiveness, Identification of other Potential Causes ( Cause and Effect Diagram)for the same problem and Actions for those causes, Corrective Action Impact- Actions on similar parts and processes, Achieving Cp, Cpk for the problems (dimensions) by implementing more process controls. Above all Good Team Work- also in 8D

Ford G8D ( Global Eight Discipline ) is a widely used technique for 'Problem Solving'. 8 Disciplines in problem solving, which follows a fact based approach, is similar to “DMAIC” process of six Sigma 8 Disciplines (8D) D? –Identify the problem D1 –Establish The Team D2 –Describe The Problem D3 –Implement and verify interim ( containment ) actions D4 –Find and verify root causes D5 –select permanent corrective actions D6 –Implement Permanent Corrective actions D7 –Prevent Recurrence by implementing system changes D8–Recognize Team and Individual Contributions and congratulate the team Ensure the priority of the problem among all known problems Do not select the problem if it is not chronic ( may be of one time occurrence )

To prevent recurring quality control issues in manufacturing: Conduct thorough root cause analysis, implement continuous monitoring, enforce stringent quality assurance procedures, provide employee training, establish standardized operating procedures, assign dedicated quality control teams, encourage open feedback, manage supplier quality, leverage technology for real-time monitoring, and foster a continuous improvement culture.