To eliminate quality errors, you can do this

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01. How can quality supervisors prevent human errors and improve inspection efficiency? Question: I am a quality supervisor and would like to ask experts: how can human errors be effectively controlled? How can inspection efficiency be further improved within the scope of this department’s responsibilities? Answer: To ensure good control over the product quality process, a comprehensive control system is necessary. First, a control plan must be developed, in which the key process indicators (KPIs) are clearly defined, along with appropriate sampling frequencies and sample sizes, as well as the types of control charts and inspection methods to be used. An Out-of-Control Action Plan (OCAP) should also be established. Next, the supervisor will conduct statistical analysis based on the collected data and information to drive continuous improvement. Human error can be effectively controlled through the following aspects: standardized operations, PokaYoke error-prevention methods, and measurement system analysis. As we all know, product quality is achieved through manufacturing rather than inspection; therefore, our goal should be to have zero inspectors. In other words, once the manufacturing process is improved and becomes good enough, we can consider reducing the number of inspectors and further improving inspection efficiency. 02. How to reduce human errors? Problem: Employees fail to follow the prescribed procedures. For example, they forget to perform regular maintenance; sometimes, when switching equipment pipelines, they even forget to close important valves. There are countless other minor tasks that are stipulated in rules and regulations but still not carried out! Some managers also often fail to complete tasks on time, or clearly handle them perfunctorily. I’ve been wondering whether it’s a matter of quality issues, or rather inadequate performance on the part of managers at all levels I would like to ask experts how to manage this situation. Answer: SOP documents, operating guidelines, strict rules and regulations – all of these are things on paper; they can only tell our employees what to do, when to do it, and how to do it, but they cannot guarantee that our employees will not make mistakes while carrying out those tasks. As we all know, whenever human intervention is involved, mistakes are bound to occur; therefore, at this point we can only think of more error-prevention mechanisms to address the issue. For example, in the case mentioned above where \"one sometimes forgets to close important valves when switching equipment pipelines\", can we use a fault-prevention device to prevent such forgetting of closing the valves? It is absolutely impossible to switch the equipment pipelines without closing the valve first. Additionally, we must also have a complete control plan. 03. How to collect information on defective products? Question: The company’s products are fabrics, and we do not have a dedicated IPQC staff to conduct random inspections of products using established sampling methods; instead, feedback from the frontline workers in the production department is relied on. In some process workshops, managers can provide effective solutions, while in other processes, reliance is always placed on QA for advice. It is also difficult for us to standardize the recording of information on defective products and the implementation of improvement measures. How can I collect information on defective products? For example, how do I determine which information needs to be recorded? Answer: Records are merely a collection and retention of information and data, but which ones are important and which ones are less important? In fact, all of these should be clearly defined in the control plan. As quality managers, we first need to know what our KPIs are, and only then can we conduct proper sampling in groups and collect data to provide a basis for subsequent statistical analysis. After a period of continuous process improvement, the sample size and sampling frequency are adjusted based on the actual quality level of the process; it is even possible to eliminate some unnecessary inspections or samples. Therefore, it is very important to develop a good control plan. 04. How do quality engineers get involved in R&D? Question: I am a quality engineer who is involved in the development of a product at my company. However, the R&D department doubted the professional capabilities of the quality engineers and ostracized them. Is there a better way to get involved in the product development process? (Questioner: Yang Xiao (Jun)) Answer: It is highly necessary and important for quality engineers to be involved in the R&D process. When a company’s performance reaches above 5σ, our designers must consider design for manufacturability. At this point, a quality engineer with extensive experience can use appropriate statistical methods or quality tools to analyze experimental data, provide numerous constructive suggestions, effectively avoid and prevent various problems that have occurred in the mass production of similar products in the past, and further optimize the design. Designers often lack the ability to effectively analyze data using statistical tools, so the two can complement each other. To enable quality engineers to effectively participate in the product development process, we must clearly define their responsibilities at each design stage in the development SOP documents. 05. How to handle customer complaints? Problem: The company’s procedure for handling customer quality complaints is as follows: Sales personnel submit the complaints, and the responsible department analyzes the causes and proposes corrective measures. However, the responses from the responsible departments were merely rhetorical statements; they failed to achieve genuine corrective and preventive effects, nor could they meet the customer’s requirements. How should we establish an audit system for responding to customer complaints? Or which stage should be designated as responsible for the audit within the system’s operation? Answer: The issue you mentioned is one that many companies encounter. The root cause of this problem lies in the system programs. Firstly, customer complaints should be linked to the performance of the relevant responsible personnel in various departments, and indicators for customer satisfaction should be established; this will help improve the effectiveness of corrective actions and work efficiency. Then reevaluate the customer complaint handling procedure. The procedural documents for handling customer complaints should specify clearly who is responsible for receiving and collecting complaint information, who analyzes and takes corrective and preventive actions, who provides feedback to the customers, who tracks and verifies the effectiveness of those corrective measures, and within what time frame a 8D report must be sent to the customers. The best approach is to establish a direct and good communication channel between the quality department and the customer, minimizing intermediate steps as much as possible. (The so-called 8D refers to a team-oriented problem-solving process that includes eight steps, from D1 to D8.) 06. How should special products be sampled for inspection? Question: The raw materials used in our company’s production are special products, supplied in rolls, and can only be inspected through sample tests at the beginning and end of the production process. During sampling/100% inspection, only surface-level testing can be carried out; it is not possible to truly assess the condition inside. In this way, no problems can be detected during the sampling process, but many problems arise during production. How should a sampling system be established in a reasonable manner? Answer: For such products, we rely more on controlled processes to ensure product quality rather than monitoring the products themselves. We know that control types generally fall into two main categories: one is the monitoring of products, and the other is the monitoring of processes. Therefore, we need to strengthen control over the process in order to replace product monitoring; for example, for key machine parameters, we analyze the relationship between their input factors (such as parameters) and the outputs (product characteristics). Therefore, for the inspection of these expensive products, we should minimize sampling as much as possible, and the control technique that can be used is the I-MR Chart, a single-point moving range chart. 07. How to standardize and manage product codes? Problem: The company where my friend works is a large-scale manufacturing enterprise in China’s lighting industry. It offers dozens of categories and thousands of product specifications. Due to the sheer variety of products, as well as both domestic sales and exports, the product coding system has always been quite chaotic. I would like to ask experts: how should product codes be standardized and managed? Answer: Usually, our product customers provide a product name (for example, called Cat), and each product name typically refers to a series of products with different specifications such as 1W, 2W, etc. Therefore, we can add codes after the product name, such as Cat1W, Cat2W, etc. If the customer does not provide a name for the new product, our company can come up with a name through brainstorming (names can be derived from animal or plant names, etc.), and then use the numbering method mentioned earlier. In this way, we can create SOP standard operating procedure documents to standardize and control things, thereby effectively avoiding repetition and chaos.