Inspecting the Process, Not the Product

When you think of product inspections, you automatically think that products are the sole component being inspected. However, in order to prevent the same mistakes from happening over and over again, there needs to be a deeper look into the history in order to pinpoint the root of the issues. Here, we’ll discuss the importance of inspecting the process rather than merely the product. 

It’s crucial in manufacturing to take the initiative to not only identify problems, but also to develop better processes for fixing problems and improving products. Factory management needs to provide workers with the proper problem-solving skills, such as:

• Fix-as-fail
• Prevention
• Finding root causes
• Anticipation

If losses are mounting daily, that’s time that your company surely doesn’t have. So, it’s necessary to be able to correct problems right away. It’d be beneficial for your company to focus on:

• Adding resources
• Fix fewer but higher leverage problems
• Fix problems faster
• Learn from each experience to make subsequent efforts more effective

When you’re able to cut to the core of an issue by detecting where exactly in the process it arose, you’re dissolving the cause and ensuring that it doesn’t happen again. If you continue to just inspect products and similar problems are detected time and time again, nothing is fundamentally changing; you’re finding problems but not actually fixing them. When you inspect the process, you’re helping your business save on time, money, and frustration. Improve your manufacturing process and your business reputation will greatly benefit.

Quality products require proper preparation. Check out our free white paper to learn how to effectively prepare for a product inspection!