Quality Control & Safety

I want to share with you a significant problem that occurred last week while I was out of the office. The problem involves a fundamental breakdown in this company's quality control system. It involves a problem which was identified by one of my QA inspectors on the Greasex line. The way that a number of people responded to this quality control problem is an indication of potentially more serious problems. Let me start by describing the events:

Certain cans of Greasex were overfilled.

QA tested them, found they were over pressurized and flagged them for rework.

The first line supervisor removed the rework tags.

That supervisor reports that he manually vented gas from each can of Greasex that was red flagged by my inspector. The supervisor did not test these cans after venting to see if they were still over pressure. Instead, he personally packaged them for shipment.

A broader problem is that the design of the Greasex can is untested. As you know, it has a distinctive hour-glass shape which marketing thought up, but there was such a rush to put the design into production that no testing was done to determine if the design was safe or what problems might occur during the production process as a result of this unique design

Still another problem involves the nozzle. I am not sure why, but incoming inspection is allowing the vendor supplying the nozzles to deliver substandard and nonconforming parts. The purchasing department's response

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a can that has been properly inflated can withstand in terms of customer abuse is quite different from the amount of abuse an overfilled can will endure. Add to this the problem we have with nozzles that are literally jammed into place, and we have the potential for a serious problem. The immediate question is whether or not to initiate a recall on this lot. The lot number, fill date, quantity shipped, and destination are listed in the attached documents. The broader question is how we can prevent breakdowns in our quality management system in the long term. I would suggest that this incident points to multiple weaknesses in the current system. Let's start with the most obvious problem. Quality control inspectors are on the production line for a reason. When they red flag product, the policy is that the product must be sent to rework. No one except quality assurance can approve red flagged product for shipment. I am not criticizing Wayne's intentions, but his judgment in this case must be called into question. Another issue this problem with this shipment of Greasex forces me to address is the question of why we are using substandard nozzles. I guess I would understand if we were willing to accept substandard nozzl

Category: Business - Q