How to Present Action Plans in Response to Internal Audit Findings?

[Silbil]

Hi all

I'm a student in QA, and for one assignment we have a case study. Given the findings of an internal audit (with no statistics or results of any investigation to find root causes of problems) we are to come up with improvements and an action plan.

My question is, how do you present an action plan? Since I don't have any results or findings, I can only suggest possible causes, and require a Quality Improvement team to investigate and come up with the most likely solutions to implement. So I can't really use a time frame.

Anyway back to the point - what sort of format do you use to present action plans, and what to include?

Thanks in advance

Silbil

For your assignment, you are being asked to portray the role of a department manager receiving a Corrective Action Request. CAR. It is now your responsibility to determine Cause and Corrective Action. I guess as a "Quality" person, they want you to know what it's like on the receiving end of a CAR. You determine the Root Cause, why it happened, and Corrective Action, what you do immediately to correct the deficiency. There is then "Preventive Action", what you intend to do to prevent it from happening again.
Most CAR's have a form that is used to address those areas. For now, you can use a memo format, broken down into three sections. Call it "Action Plan". 1. Root Cause, 2. Corrective Action, 3. Preventive Action. There may be, a question as to how you measure the effectiveness of your preventive actions. A possible answer may be that you will monitor routinely for deviations of this type. That can be thrown into the section dealing with Preventive Action. Welcome to the world of Quality. Yes, Quality, JW. Good Luck. Keep us posted, whatever you decide to do. Then we can all mix it up real good for you.

[Greg Maggard]

Hello,
I suggest you try looking at the PDCA method. (PLAN, Do, Check, Action) This is just one of many methods. I actually taught the TPS (Toyota Problem Solving) for years. This is also a simple approach to what you seek. Any search engine will have this information. I actually have a slide show for TPS if you are interested. 5- why (Why made, why shipped) I also have PFS (Problem Follow up sheet) attached, just click read only.

Hope this helps.

[HFowler]

Silbil,

There are many "Corrective Action Forms" available that could be used to document an action plan. A generic one that I found by a quick search of the internet can be found at the link below:

http://www.asu.faa.gov /ASU200/QualitySystem/QF-01.doc

An action plan should show as a minimum:
- Reference to the finding being addressed,
- The action / recommendation,
- The person(s) responsible,
- Proposed implementation date(s),
- Date of completion

You exhibit very sound thinking in questioning:

...how do you present an action plan? Since I don't have any results or findings, I can only suggest possible causes, and require a Quality Improvement team to investigate and come up with the most likely solutions to implement.

Good luck in your assignment. You have come to the right place to get helpful advice. Read the comments of others for possible solutions to your case study.

Best Regards,
Hank Fowler

[Marc]

Greg Maggard said:

Hello,
I suggest you try looking at the PDCA method. (PLAN, Do, Check, Action) This is just one of many methods. I actually taught the TPS (Toyota Problem Solving) for years. This is also a simple approach to what you seek. Any search engine will have this information. I actually have a slide show for TPS if you are interested. 5- why (Why made, why shipped) I also have PFS (Problem Follow up sheet) attached, just click read only.

Nice sheet! Thanks, Greg!

Good link, Hank! There's a lot out there if you know where and how to look for it, isn't there.

Here's a complex one: http://Elsmar.com/pdf_files/ - Look for NC_DBASE.pdf

[Greg Maggard]

Thx, I have a million of these type items cha cha cha cha
Now if I could only get middle management to use the darn thing I would be cooking with gas

[Marc]

Plenty of theory. Then reality sets in (gets in the way)...

[David Mullins]

Silbil

What were the findings of the audit?

It sounds like you have to make some assumptions.

As the other guys have suggested:
- determine (fictitious) root cause.
- decide what to do with the nonconfoming product (if you have any), dispositioning - throw it, rework it under concession, etc
- decide how to prevent the findings from recurring.
- what procedures, machines, programmes, etc need to be altered and by when.
- advice to other parties/customers required?

All this sort activity, and more, is included in the action plan.