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Background: Hank Kolb had been Quality Assurance director for only four weeks. After his return from a seminar, Kolb was finally able to look into quality problems at an industrial products plant employing 1200 people. Kolb’s first encounter with deficient quality was with the Greasex line (a specialized degreasing solvent packed in a spray can for the high technology sector). A little high pressure was found in some cans on the second shift, but a supervisor vented them in order to meet their delivery schedule. From talking with Mark Hamler, his quality control manager, Kolb knew more about the background of the Greasex production line. He found two main problems: · Filling equipment. There was some trouble with the new filling equipment and some of the cans were pressurized beyond the upper specification limit. · Production rate. The production rate was below standard. Mac Evans, the inspector for that line, found the problem, tagged the cases “hold”, and went on about his duties. When he returned at the end of the shift to write up the rejects, Mac had found that Wayne Simmons, his first-line supervisor, had vented the can and removed the “hold” tags. Evans didn’t document this occurrence, but verbally informed Hamler of the situation. Hamler responded by asking Mac to check with maintenance and make sure the filling machine was adjusted. He also recommended that the “hold” products be sent through rework next time. · Production Value. Some have wrong production attitude that it is well only for meeting the deadline. Causes of the Quality Problems: To make clear why the quality and productive problems occurred, Kolb reviewed the following causes on the current Greasex line. Top managerial level: Morganthal, general manager, pointed out the plant was lacking a quality attitude. Morganthal hope to improve quality and reduce the operation cost so that this downward quality-productivity-turnover spiral should be ended. Personnel: The operator for the filling equipment lacked sufficient training. When Evans had tested the high-pressure cans the operator was nowhere to be found and had only learned of the rejected material from Wayne after the shift was over.
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