Memoir: Hot War - Cold War | Page 8

and end item
overhaul schedules?Â
- Have you reviewed the design specifications to ensure that the
(consumer's) intended use of the device has not been compromised by
the defective part?Â
- If the error will not cause significant deviations from approved
drawings, technical and contractual specifications, should you review
the situation with the customers (consumers) before taking any further
action on those items that now incorporate the defect?Â
- Should you impose a work stoppage on the affected product lines?Â

- Do you know what the effects of a work stoppage will be on?
- The affected product lines and the shop activities that support
them?Â
- Your contractual commitments? Â - Do you have alternate
workloads that can be readily inserted into the production line gaps
until a corrective action decision for the mistake can be implemented
and routine production continue?Â
- Were parts, assemblies or end items incorporating the error shipped
from your plant and/or are they in your packaging/ shipping
departments being prepared for shipment? If they were/are:Â
- Have you estimated the effects of the mistake on the market place?Â
- Have you estimated the effects of a decision to recall the defective
items from your customers, dealers, and consumers?Â
- Should further preparation for shipment (preservation and packaging)
of the item be halted?Â
- Are trucks or freight cars now being loaded by your shipping
department with items that contain the production error?Â
- Should the shipments be halted?Â
- Should the shipments be off-loaded?Â
- Do you know the effect of a stop shipment order on the
customers/consumers who are scheduled to receive the items?Â
- Do they have sufficient stocks on hand that do not contain the error to
tide them over the re-work period?
- Should you permit shipments to continue and then dispatch
technicians to replace or repair the defective parts at the
customer's/consumer's holding facility or maintenance and/or operating
site?Â

- If the defective items have been shipped to distributors and from them
to ultimate consumers, can you identify all shipments that incorporate
the production error by customer/consumer, shipping order number,
method/date/time of shipment, and any other means that will assist the
recipients to locate and, if necessary, segregate defective from useable
stocks in their warehouses, dealers' stocks and in (consumer's)
possession?Â
- Have you issued instructions to cover the situation?Â
- Have you confirmed that your instructions were followed?Â
- Based on your analysis to this point, should the recipients of items
containing the defective part be notified?Â
- If notification is to be made, have you issued instructions to do so and
are your instructions clearly understood?Â
- Have you and your legal advisors reviewed the notification for
adequacy, including legal and contractual implications?Â
- Do notification procedures include recording date/time/method of
notification and names of individuals originating and receiving the
communications?Â
- Are you certain the notification was received and understood by the
intended recipient?Â
- If you have imposed a work stoppage on the affected items and
stopped further shipments, do you know your shipping commitments
for the next 24, 48 and 72 hours?Â
- Should the recipients for those shipping commitments (preceding
question) be notified of the delays, lead time until the situation can be
clarified, and when a new shipping date will be provided? Was this step
followed up with the notification of a new shipping date? Â - If the
faulty items are to be recalled to the plant, can shipments in the
transportation pipeline be diverted back?Â

- If they can be returned, were instructions to that effect issued, and has
receiving function prepared paperwork for the non-routine receipts and
for their segregated storage until shop processing can be
accomplished?Â
- Should you arrange with your customers for them to rework the
defective items in their service support shops or contractually?Â
- Would it be more practical for you to send your technicians to do the
rework on site, considering your customer's resources (time, special
tools, equipment, replacement parts, materials, skills, calibration), the
economics of the situation, and your company's reputation?Â
- Have you identified and analyzed your options for each location
where the fix will be made? Have you listed them and evaluated their
interactions?Â
- Have you evaluated the effects of your decision to fix or not fix?
IMPLEMENTING THE FIX
- Identify the factors and decisions that would bear upon the corrective
action process for that particular manufacturing mistake.Â
- List, in check-list form, the considerations and options that would
enhance management's understanding of the exact nature and
significance of the mistake and its effects on the pipeline, wholesalers,
other points