It's time for action!
Now that you have developed your countermeasures and narrowed them down (STEP FIVE), it is time to see them through one by one in a timely manner.
STEP SIX - Implement Countermeasures
This what you do in STEP SIX:
We see countermeasures through a clear detailed plan in a timely manner.
We focus on one countermeasure at a time to effectively monitor them.
We open communication is vital during implementation.
We seek ideas and feedback to see what is and isn't working
Please keep in mind that communication is extremely important in STEP SIX. You’ll want to seek ideas from the team and continue to work back through the PDCA cycle to ensure nothing is being missed along the way.
Consider implementing one countermeasure at a time to monitor the effectiveness of each.
You will certainly make mistakes throughout your problem-solving processes, but your persistence is key, especially in step six. APPLICATION: The PDCA cycle keeps going and we are back to our shoe factory with too many returned shoes. Let's take one probable root cause: Poor quality of raw materials. A question for you: What would be a practical countermeasure to determine if this is a root cause or not? What would you do?
Please use the comments section below.
probable root cause: Poor quality of raw materials.
1. Investigate if materials are coming from the same place, and if same issue is encountered. 2. Verify that room is the adequate for keeping the material. 3. Train employees, experts on the field : Cutting, assembling, stocking. 4. Trial and Test: Try new raw material, and see if the problem persists with one sample. 5. Provide and receive feedback ( From quality and manufacturers)
Raw materials are as important as the design of the shoes, because if the materials are not good but the design is, people would still return the shoes. If the root is the poor quality of raw materials, they need to be changed for high-quality ones that make the final product something that meets the costumer’s expectations. The new materials need to be tested first to avoid choosing materials that won't work for a specific design.
There are some practical countermeasures for the "Poor quality of raw materials" as a possible root cause:
1. Make sure that the supplier is providing the correct quality for the raw materials that you asked for.
2. Train people for the initial production process to implement quality control of raw materials.
3. At the time of receiving the raw materials, please check whether all of them are in the best conditions for production, in other words, you cannot start production if you have damaged materials.
Probable root cause: Poor quality of raw materials Supposing that the raw material is leather, some practical countermeasures could be:
1. Verify that the storage of the raw material is adequate, and that it is not undergoing any change that affects the process.
2. Verify that the raw material complies with the correct standards of color and thickness suitable to be subjected to different processes.
3. Develop laboratory quality control tests:
a) Resistance against temperature
b) Stretch / shrink tests
c) Resistance to seams, tears and perforations
d) Water resistance
4. Verify that the cutting department is complying and let the leather repose before cutting These measures will help us determine the allowable percentages to develop more accurate…
Probable root cause: Poor quality of raw materials.
-We need to check the damages in the returned shoes to identify the main problem with the materials used.
- We should test different materials from other providers to improve the quality of the final product.
-The company should to trainee all the production team how to use the materials correctly to avoid the mistakes in the production process.