A good day on the shop floor has everything running smoothly. No issues with machines, staff, or suppliers, and products are shipped on time and without defects. However, the typical manufacturing plant may not experience many of these days. More often it seems that equipment breaks down unexpectedly, operators require additional training, and suppliers are late with deliveries. It could also be a matter of a machine suddenly making out of tolerance parts, or an auditor uncovers some troubling information about your operating procedures. While these situations can be headache-inducing, they can also be helpful if handled well.
When opportunities for improvement come up, this is the true test of your processes. Quality depends on continuous improvement, and—though they can be stressful and unwanted—problems are a way of making the company and the team even better. This is all just theory, however, until an audit brings issues to light. That’s when corrective actions come into play.