Nonconforming material tag - People are not filling out required paperwork

[little__cee]

We use a red Nonconforming Material Tag and it has recently come to my attention that people are not filling out required paperwork in conjunction with the tag. For example, say a customer orders a piece of "x" material and we have "x" on the truck but it is rusty for whatever reason...the truck driver is marking the "x" material with a red nonconforming tag as per procedure but then upon return to our facility is not filling out a Process Failure Form.

Does anyone else use a system similiar to ours? It sounds like duplicate effort but the purpose of the tag is to signify to someone who might use it that that there is a reason not to, and the purpose of the form is so that management can investigate the reason for the nonconformity.

In this instance, the department supervisor did some re-training as that group is composed of fairly new employees and I am hoping that will solve the "problem" but am happy at the same time to see that the red tags are being used! Now I just need to go that next step.

Thank you in advance for sharing how your nonconforming tags fit in with your overall improvement programs.

 

[Tom W]

We use a Red Tag and what we call our Red Form - THe Nonconforming Product Tag is used to identify the product, the Red Form (Quality Concern / Nonconforming Product Notice) is used to document the investigation and corretive actions taken.

We have also found over time that the employees just initiate the red form (complete section1) and then place it on the product for identification. Then they move the material to the hold area. If the form is removed, they then fill out a red tag.

I have attached copies of each. The red form is both front and back on a piece of paper.

 

[db]

When I come across this type of problem I ask what is the impact of not filling out the associated paperwork? In many cases, someone else will be able to fill out the papers, but the paperwork is too complicated (or so they think).

Any time there is a performance issue, then something has to change. You either have to change the behavior, or change the requirement. In some cases, you might be better off ahead by just making sure the nonconforming product gets a tag, and let someone else figure out what is wrong, and what has to be done.

 

[RoxaneB]

I guess approaches in this situation will differ depending on the industry and product.

Stacey, you know what my organization manufactures, so perhaps some of this might apply to you.

We do not red tag our items, per se. We do, however, sticker all products identifying them with their status (i.e., grade (e.g., A36/44W), seconds, rework, hold, etc.). This sticker is applied by our QC Department who also ensures that the status is known in the computer system. Only a product that has been dispositioned and released by QC can be shipped...this ensure we do not ship nonconforming product to our Customers.

Like db suggested, have a talk with the people involved in the process and find out why they aren't following what was thought to be the accepted sequence of activities. Maybe they have some ideas on how to make it more effective/efficient.

As for rusty product, we don't know that if it arrives rusty until the Customer complains...then we follow our Customer Complaint process.

 

[Craig H.]

Hi:

There is a rather extensive thread about this very subject at:

http://www.elsmar.com/Forums/showpost.php?p=68689&postcount=1

If memory serves, it was an excellent discussion.

Craig