Interim Quality Manager Case Study
| Ref | C0178 |
|
| Position | Interim Quality Manager | |
| Sector | Automotive | |
| Location | UK |
Quality Audit/Improvement Programme for Seat Belt Retractor Manufacturer
This company had fallen behind with its TS16949 auditing. There was need for three process and two business system audits to be completed within 2 weeks. Our interim quality manager completed the audits, the corrective actions and time-scales identified and agreed and then issued to the relevant people in the organisation.
The level of rejects on the manual assembly lines was too high to meet the output requirements and the financial targets for the operation. Firstly, it had to be determined whether the rejected parts were in fact unacceptable, or were being rejected because the knowledge of the acceptance standard had been lost. The acceptance standard had to be redefined, as there was no reference for the operators. The definition of acceptable parts using drawings and written descriptions had to be converted to a format which the operators could understand, many of whom did not have English as their first language. Samples of acceptable and unacceptable parts had to be identified, and presented on a display for reference. All the operators were trained to the new acceptance standards and training effectiveness subsequently tested and demonstrated.
As a result of the improvement programme, reject rates on the line were reduced by more than 50%. The external assessor found no non-conformances in the areas which had been covered.
