Practical quality tools for people who make things
What just landed on your desk?
Customer complaint. Repeat defect. Audit finding. Pick what happened and get the first move and the order to work in, from someone who has run the floor.
- Free field book
- Free tools
- Excel workbooks
What happened?
Customer complaint
Start with
Log it with a number, then contain suspect stock before you investigate.
Your path
- Complaint log
- Containment
- Root cause
- PFMEA update
- Control Plan
- Work instruction
- LPA question
- Effectiveness check
Repeat defect
Start with
Pull the last fix and ask why it did not hold.
Your path
- Review the last fix
- Restate the problem
- Contain it
- 5-Why
- Fishbone
- Corrective action
- Lock it in
- Effectiveness check
Supplier problem
Start with
Inspect the lot before it moves, then contain it and put it in writing.
Your path
- Receive and inspect
- Contain it
- Decide and tell
- Ask for the fix
- Find the cause
- Prove the fix
- Update the record
- Audit the source
Audit finding
Start with
Restate the finding against the exact requirement.
Your path
- Requirement
- Restate it
- Correction
- Look beyond the sample
- Root cause
- Corrective action
- CAR tracker
- Evidence
New part launch
Start with
Confirm the PPAP level and customer requirements on day one, then start the PFMEA before the Control Plan.
Your path
- Set up the launch
- PFMEA
- Control Plan
- Work instruction
- Gage R&R
- First article
- Run at rate
- PPAP
Process drifting
Start with
Contain what was made since the last good check, then rule out the gage before you blame the process.
Your path
- Spot the drift
- Containment
- Gage R&R
- Control chart
- Capability
- Root cause
- Control Plan
- Prove it held
Free field books
One problem. Eight steps to proof.
Each field book follows one made-up case from the first record to a proven fix. One short chapter per step, each ending with what to do on the floor Monday.
Field Book 01
One Complaint: The Complaint-to-Closure Trail
A field book for following a customer complaint from the first email to a proven fix.
8 steps · 10 tools
Field Book 02
One Bad Lot. The Supplier Trail.
A field book for following a nonconforming lot from the receiving dock to a proven supplier fix.
8 steps · 11 tools
Field Book 03
One Drifting Shaft. The Process Trail.
A field book for following a drifting process from the first sign to proof it is back under control.
8 steps · 13 tools
Field Book 04
One New Part. The Launch Trail.
A field book for following a new part from the day the program lands to a PPAP the customer approves.
8 steps · 12 tools
Field Book 05
One Comeback. The Repeat Defect Trail.
A field book for a defect that came back after the fix: from the old 8D to proof the second fix holds.
8 steps · 12 tools
Field Book 06
One Finding. The Audit Response Trail.
A field book for answering an audit finding: from the closing meeting to a response the auditor can close.
8 steps · 11 tools
Free tools
Straight answers, not templates.
Tools that check your work and point at the gap. Free, no signup.
Free tool
8D report checker
Paste your 8D and see which sections are missing, thin, or stop at blaming a person. Each flag shows what a better answer looks like.
Free tool
5 Why helper
Type your chain of whys and see where it blames a person, repeats itself or stops too early. Print a clean version for the file.
Free tool
Containment checklist builder
Say what is wrong and where the material could be. Get a printable checklist to stop it, find it, sort it and tell the right people.
See all free tools: launch readiness, audit responses, the PFMEA check, a Control Plan blank, the Monday Boards and more.
Guides
Plain answers, start to finish.
Free guides for the jobs that land on a quality desk, from the first problem statement to the proof the fix held. No signup.
Record and contain
How to write an 8D report
The eight disciplines in order, what goes in each one, and the mistakes that get 8Ds rejected.
Root cause
How to do a 5 Why
The three-legged version, a worked example and the mistakes that stop it too early.
Prove it
Cpk vs Ppk
What each one measures, the formulas, a worked example and how to calculate both in Excel.
Workbooks
Take it to the floor.
Excel workbooks built for real plant problems, sold on Etsy. Download, fill in, use Monday morning.
Customer complaint
Complaint-to-Closure Trail Bundle
Every tool in the field book, from the complaint log to the effectiveness tracker, in one set.
Supplier problem
Supplier Trail Bundle
Every tool in the supplier field book, from the receiving inspection report to the supplier audit, in one set.
Repeat defect
Repeat Defect Trail Bundle
Every tool in the repeat defect field book, from the CAR tracker to the effectiveness tracker, in one set.
Audit finding
Audit Response Trail Bundle
Every tool in the audit response field book, from the findings log to the layered process audit, in one set.
Process drifting
Process Trail Bundle
Every tool in the process field book, from the in-process check sheet to the layered process audit, in one set.
New part launch
Launch Trail Bundle
Every tool in the launch field book, from the PPAP plan to the run at rate, in one set.
ShopFloor Press
Weekly quality and manufacturing news that touches the floor
Standards changes, recalls and industry news, boiled down to what a plant has to act on. Published every Friday. Latest: Their recall, your clock, 453 buses and 259 trailers recalled. All editions.