Welcome to the world of Quality control that can be our best friend and worst nightmare.
In production we often believe that no one likes to hear the word “rejected” other than the quality inspector. To hear those words means he just busted you for making a mistake, to him it means he just did a good job. To the production worker it means the opposite he has just failed at his job. The emotions in this conflict can often escalate into a dysfunctional system we call “the game”.
An easy way to learn how the quality systems works or what the production department often refers to as “the game” is to watch a cartoons show called the road runner… The interesting concept behind the cartoon is how the coyotes is always devising systems to catch the road runner that the sheep dog and road runner manage to defeat. In this analogy instead of trying to catch the road runner the quality department is set up to catch mistakes, so the mistakes are like the road runner and the production department is like the sheep dog responsible for the mistakes. Just like in the cartoon show Willie E. coyote, road runner and the Ralph sheep dog work at this all day and then they clock out and go home to get some rest so they can prepare for the next day of the sheep dog and road runner from trying to prevent the coyote from satisfying his taste buds.
We play this game too in our molding plants for 8 hours each shift then at the end of the day we clock out and go home, and we are all still friends at the end of the day. Unfortunately while this seems to be “the game” we engage in it can be counterproductive and there are better solutions.
To fully understand the quality systems we have in place so we do not get into the road runner game requires that we take a look at the purpose of the department. Contact us and let us show you how Outlaw Solutions and Concepts can help the quality department and production department can live in harmony.
How do we define quality in injection molding?
Its not what you think. The idea of quality in molding is only centered on one thing.
Consistency
Consistency within bound is what we need because we are not perfect
Perfectionism – unless clearly requested by a client who knows what it’s really going to cost – is a luxury that most cannot afford