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Field Book · Chapter 3 of 8 · Control plan and reaction plan

Build the Control Plan

Every risk that needs action lands on a control plan row: what is checked, how, how often, by whom, and a reaction plan that says what to do, who to call and who can restart.

By Chris Martin, quality manager. 2 minute read. Free, no signup.

Every PFMEA risk rated High or Medium lands on a control plan row: what is checked, how, how often and by whom, with a reaction plan that says what to do in the first minute, who to call, what happens to the parts and who can restart the machine. Each plan row carries its PFMEA row number. A plan row with no PFMEA row behind it is a guess.

Week 4. The PFMEA is finished, and now each risk that needs action lands on a control plan row: what is checked, how, how often, by whom, and what happens when the check fails. Four of the five PFMEA rows need one. The Low row does not.

The rows

  • Row 1, from PFMEA row 1 (wet resin). Check the resin moisture at the start of each lot, and log dryer time and temperature against the resin data sheet. Reaction: do not load the resin. Return it to the dryer, retest it, and tag it until it passes.
  • Row 2, from PFMEA row 2 (short shot). The operator compares the snap hook to the boundary sample on the first five shots after any restart and every 30 minutes. Reaction: stop the press, tag everything since the last good check, call the process technician, and restart only after five good shots.
  • Row 3, from PFMEA row 3 (hook height). Measure five consecutive pieces on the fixture every 30 minutes, and chart them. Reaction: the same stop, tag, call and restart steps as row 2. The control limits are set after the run at rate in step 7.
  • Row 4, from PFMEA row 4 (scuffing). One piece per pocket in a divider tote, and one tote checked every hour. Reaction: stop packing, re-sort that tote and the one before it, and fix the pocket that failed.

A reaction plan says what to do

"Notify supervisor" is not a reaction plan. It is a phone call. A real one says what the operator does in the first minute, who they call, what happens to the parts, and who can restart the machine. Every row above says it. Write the stop authority into the plan: the operator stops the press without asking.

Each plan row carries the number of the PFMEA row it came from. A plan row with no PFMEA row behind it is a guess, and a PFMEA row rated High or Medium with no plan row is a hole.

Read more: how to write a control plan, a control plan example and control plan vs PFMEA.

The mistake to avoid

Writing the plan to match what the floor does today instead of what the PFMEA says the floor needs. The plan is where you decide what to do. It is not where you record what you already do.

ON THE FLOOR MONDAY
  • Pick one control plan row and trace it back to a PFMEA row.
  • Read its reaction plan. Does it say what to do, who to call and who can restart?
  • Find any High or Medium PFMEA row with no plan row.

Open the printable Monday Board

Want every tool on this trail in one purchase? The Launch Trail Bundle has all 12.

The part, the tool, the program and every number in this book (latch cover LC-5927) are a made-up example. The tool sidebars show ShopFloorOps tools, which I make and sell. Every chapter teaches the step itself, so you can use your own forms. New to a term? See the quality glossary.