Check the Floor

Two weeks after the fix, the totes are right, the instruction is posted, and the operators are signed off. Here's the question that decides whether the complaint comes back: will anyone check that it's still done this way three months from now?

Layered process audits answer that. They're short, frequent checks of the process itself, done by people at different levels of the plant. They aren't another inspection of parts. They check that the controls you just put in place are still being followed.

Add the question from the complaint

Every corrective action should leave at least one question behind on the LPA. For the housings, the team added this one:

At packout, are parts in divider totes, one part per pocket, top face up?

Yes or no, answered in thirty seconds by anyone standing at the station.

Spread it across the layers

• Layer 1, the supervisor: every shift or every day.
• Layer 2, the department manager: weekly.
• Layer 3, the plant manager or staff: monthly.

Different layers notice different things. A supervisor sees the station every day and stops seeing it. A plant manager walking through once a month sees it fresh. And when the plant manager asks the question, the floor learns that the fix matters.

A no is the point

When an answer is no, fix it on the spot and log it. Then watch the pattern. One no is a slip. The same no three weeks running means the control isn't working, and that goes back to the root cause. It's not a reason to stop asking.

The mistake to avoid

Audits that always come back yes. If every question has been a yes for a year, either the process is perfect or nobody is really looking. Rotate in questions from recent complaints, retire the ones that never fail, and track whether the audits are actually getting done on schedule.

The plant, the part and the complaint in this book (RMA-031) 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.