Management of Preventive and Corrective Actions
Prevention activities: once in possession of elements leading to the belief that the product to be delivered is not compliant with design specifications, the external provider shall send a request to the Quality Division at Benelli. The tool used for this case is the “approval-exemption request”. The same application action is implemented each time there are changes to the processes or equipment used or critical elements are identified which influence the process.
It is essential not to underestimate the details; it is preferable always to make even the smallest of changes, with a view to the fact that the opinion of more than one person can help to judge or decide with greater discernment: “four eyes always see better than two”.
The more information provided, the better the definition of the problem will be and this can influence the production cycle or, determine whether there will be effects on the successive stages of transformation-use.
Corrective Actions: Benelli’s external providers are responsible for the supply of products and services, which must be free from defects. In the presence of quality problem reports, the external provider is obliged to identify the cause behind them, implementing the corrective measures required to solve the problem and to prevent it from occurring again.
On receipt of a Non-conformity Report, the external provider is obliged to proceed immediately to confirm receipt of the request for corrective actions (no later than 24 hours from receipt of same) and to provide a full plan of permanent corrective actions (no more than 5 working days), unless otherwise specified.
In this regard, the Quality Division at Benelli has structured this process, making it evident by adopting an “8D Problem solving” approach, which is a key tool in the management of non-conformity.
This method aims to improve processes and is implemented by dealing with the problem through teamwork. The use of this approach breaks down the problem into various steps for management and improvement that consists of 8 key points:
- Definition of the problem.
- Formation of the work team.
- Description of the problem.
- Prompt containment of the problem, while seeking out the causes behind it.
- Definition and checks of the causes that generated the problem or which prevent its improvement.
- Choice of corrective action.
- Implementation of corrective actions.
- Recognition of group members who have worked on solving the problem.
External providers have the duty to respond in order to correct any discrepancies found, while Benelli reserves the right to request fair reimbursement of the costs sustained due to problems with quality, delivery delays to the end customer, and missed billing.
The ability to analyse the problem and understand its causes are not always so immediate and direct.
Benelli undertakes to support the external provider but the “process owner” is always the one who generated and governs it. In these cases, a problem-solving method may be useful: thinking “outside the box”, creatively, laterally.
Lateral thinking can be defined as a way to solve the problems that need an indirect approach, working around the obstacle instead of dealing with it directly.
If we look at the problem from another angle, we can carry out actions that apparently have nothing to do with the solution to the problem and which may seem illogical at times.
Breaking down the elements of a problem to re-order them into an apparently casual model can at times give us a different view of the situation and therefore, point us in the direction of a possible solution.
Lateral thinking is an extremely useful method when it comes to developing new products/services or to deal with problems that seem impossible to solve when following a normal logical path. External providers who receive parts deemed as “scrap” for returns must proceed to dispose of these parts.
No shipping or attempt to re-machine these products is permitted without prior authorisation from the Benelli Quality Division or without submitting a request for changes to the same.
The management aspect of non-conformities and assessment of same are key components, together with other aspects in the new ISO9001:2015 regulations that focus attention on risk management.
This is an extremely important aspect for every quality system and it needs to be extremely important aspect for every quality system, and which needs to be introduced from the outset to bring forward changes within a short period of time.
For this reason, the process needs to be managed in an integrated manner, working with the external provider to place greater emphasis on considering any item purchased as something to be managed and controlled (independently of its nature) by the external provider.