The Value and Effectiveness of In Process Inspection

[PaulJSmith]

So far we haven't had a huge amount of customer returns and the scrap rate hasn't changed drastically yet, but I am concerned about not having a second set of eyes at least periodically in the process.

No reason to worry about that until the data supports that it is indeed a problem.

One of the things I have been considering though to make up for the loss of previous inspections is random part sampling inspections, ...

Don't think of it as a "loss" of inspection, but rather as a transfer to other personnel. So long as the new inspectors are aware of the quality requirements for the parts they're inspecting, there's no reason to believe they won't do a fine job. Give them support in that area, and you'll soon have an entire shop full of Quality Inspectors. That can only be a good thing, and is as it should be.

 

[Chennaiite]

Having a periodic audit is not a bad option. The outcome of audit will either mitigate your concern or will fetch you a point to back yourself.

 

[John Broomfield]

Having a periodic audit is not a bad option. The outcome of audit will either mitigate your concern or will fetch you a point to back yourself.

Chennaiite,

An interesting objective for an impartial and objective audit.

John

 

[Chennaiite]

Chennaiite,

An interesting objective for an impartial and objective audit.

John

Yes, John. Make it Stick
Auditing is a feedback tool for Top Management to monitor and ensure this.

 

[John Broomfield]

Yes, John. Make it Stick
Auditing is a feedback tool for Top Management to monitor and ensure this.

Chennaiite,

Nice link.

Dr Kotter recommends leadership. I would not put an auditor between the leader and the followers in making the change permanent.

This is quite apart from my point that the auditor doubts the wisdom of the change.

John

 

[TWA - not the airline]

How many errors/problems did QC find historically? How was the culture at the plant? If the organization in general cared about quality (not necessarily always using this word) then such a change could actually be beneficial, but if you needed QC to police the shop floor then this thing will jump in your face.
Keep an eye on the culture and worker motivation as this may change quickly after changes in management occured.

 

[Mike S.]

One of the things I have been considering though to make up for the loss of previous inspections is random part sampling inspections, but I am also unsure if this is effective either. It seems more like needle in a haystack sampling and that the time spent on them may be again better utilized elsewhere.

You probably already know whether this new process is going to work or not. Your gut will tell you pretty accurately based on what you know about your operation.

If you're going to pick a lot to audit, instead of randomly selecting a lot, maybe pick one that is for a particularly tough part that is under a scheduling deadline.

 

[Project Man]

One of the things I have been considering though to make up for the loss of previous inspections is random part sampling inspections, but I am also unsure if this is effective either. It seems more like needle in a haystack sampling and that the time spent on them may be again better utilized elsewhere.

Let the data drive your inspections and investigations. The respect you will have from the manufacturing floor will only go down if you are randomly inspecting parts that statistically have no issues, while the ones they've been struggling with all day are completely ignored. On the other hand, I have seen great cooperation from the operators when I walk out on the floor with a wacky distribution chart and ask them to help me investigate. It let's them know someone actually cares about the data they are collecting and about helping to resolve issues.