Get back to basics amidst tech advances

By Andrea Mammes, Intertek Aston Manor

It is easy to get tantalised by technology.While it’s necessary to utilise technology for efficiency, mistake-proofing and control, it cannot replace the basic principles of quality management in any manufacturing environment from pharma and cosmetics to mining.

One illustration comes from an established manufacturing company in Wynberg, Joburg, South Africa. The company designs, manufactures and installs turnstiles and booms for various industries. As the family owned business grew, controls became more difficult and systems were informal at best. In the first year of operating a formal quality management system, the company reduced the cost of poor quality by 90percent, a saving of over R145 000. How could it achieve this, without implementing anything else than a formal QMS? It applied the basic principles of quality.

DOCUMENT CONTROL

Being a design and manufacturing operation, technical manufacturing drawings issued to the floor were previously issued without any form of version control, or control over design changes. This resulted in parts being processed incorrectly, due to drawing errors, or confusion over which version to use. In many cases, the individually and separately manufactured parts could not be assembled correctly until further rework could be done. This was addressed through strict control over drawings. Version controls were established, and drawings were issued to specific work stations. Design changes to drawings could only be achieved after a formal process of change management and approval by specified personnel.

CORRECTIVE ACTION SYSTEM

The implementation of a formal system to record issues proved to be an eye opener for management. Non-reporting of problems, complaints and issues as sured an ongoing stream of complications, which costed money and directly affected the company's bottom line.

The basic principles embodied in the ‘improvement’ clauses of ISO 9001 were established. All problems were logged.Root causes of each problem were assessed and identified, using established techniques, such as 5-Why and FishboneAnalysis. These solved over 90 percent of the existing issues in one year.

The company’s corrective action system now includes calculating the cost of everyNC recorded (e.g. labour hours, materials used for repair and the replacement cost of components etc.). This enables the company to focus on addressing the issues with the biggest cost implications (usingPareto analysis). This system has matured from a fire-fighting mechanism to one of continual improvement.

DESIGN CONTROLS AND RETENTION SAMPLES

motors, relays and solenoids) were not formally recorded, and only anecdotal evidence of performance and reliability was available. This resulted in incorrect decisions being made on supplier selection, as unreliable motors were sometimes sourced. These eventually proved problematic, including repairs being undertaken at client installations.

The implementation of documented test protocols and performance tracking of components testing provided realistic information about the performance of specific components and situations(e.g. reliability of motors in heat-stressed environments and the number of cycles of operation of relays before failure).

Fully assembled products were tested inhouseand records have been retained ofpertinent information such as the numberof cycles and operating temperatures (i.e.winter and summer performance). This hasreduced incorrect procurement decisionsdramatically. This meant the current cost ofpoor quality is < R20 000, amounting to anannual saving of over R120 000. Ongoingefforts will further reduce this. •

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Andrea Mammes is a lead auditor for business assurance at Intertek sub- Saharan Africa. She qualified in QMS ISO 9001 and has evolved into an ISO 22716 (GMP) auditor for cosmetics manufacturing. Send an email to info.africa@intertek.com for more information on the services offered by Intertek.

Intertek – www.intertek.com