Containment in a manufacturing facility

An introduction by Rob Stanford, MD Phoenix Quality Services s.r.o.

Times have changed in manufacturing. Whether you build cars, components for cars, or medical surgical instruments, the ability to manufacture almost anything at volume and to the specifications set out by the customer has progressed and continues to progress daily.

Many of the industry techniques and tools of yesterday are still very relevant now; Statistical Process Control is widely used in small component manufacturing, as one example. Add to this an ever increasing tool kit - Built on Lean concepts - and it seems that unlike many other trends, one new idea doesn't replace the last, but rather enhances it in some way.

Yet, despite all of this, there are still occasions when an element of control will momentarily slip away for any number of reasons, and the need for manual inspection and testing arises.  Welcome then, to the world of containment.

Containment companies have an enormously bad reputation throughout the industry. In many cases, justifiably so. This is largely because when a companies process has in some way failed, that company and much of its supply chain are compromised. It is a sensitive situation, and requires handling in the most professional way possible. And therein lies the problem.

Containment is largely a people orientated process. Many owners of containment companies  routinely make the mistake of establishing their business on this basis; much like a basic temporary agency, the containment company sells a service, rather than a product, and it sometimes wrongly assumes that this will limit costs and maximise margins. The trouble is, when containment is managed in a professional way, this is far from true. The result, in my experience, has often led to the ordering of one service, and the receipt of something entirely different, and usually inadequate at best.

I have been involved with containment for many years now, and have learned, if nothing else, that it is the most valuable tool in the box when the need for a fast, reactive, and critical fix arises. The key to its effectiveness, is in the execution. Containment, there can be no doubt, is a definitive source of waste. As is inventory. And, like inventory, as much as we know it is by far the best option to develop a JIT system, or build quality into a product in the case of inspection, some businesses by their very nature will themselves occasionally need an inspection point in their process - or a warehouse to store additional stock.

So when there is a need to call a company and setup an inspection point or Quality Firewall, how do know you will get value for money? How do you know it will be effective? Is there really any point to adding to the existing cost of a non conformity, when there is a better than average chance that your customer will still call tomorrow to complain it has received another shipment containing faulty parts, after they have been inspected by your or their containment company?

The answers to these questions may seem obvious, but they are often overlooked. When selecting a company that will effectively represent your business and your capability to form a barrier against defective product, it is critical to know the following:

• What experience does the senior management team have in manufacturing? A good containment or inspection process should mirror a typical manufacturing process in many ways, so this is critical information - If the management does not know how a build line runs, and the principles that make it work, how can they expect to ever establish an effective operation?

• Can they talk you through a typical Inspection point setup? Are they able to make the process clear and easy to understand, and at the same time leave you feeling confident that all details have been considered? Remember - this company will represent you and your company. Would you put them in front of your customer? This is a realistic scenario - while the manufacturer is ultimately responsible for their product, I have been asked many times to attend a CPA and demonstrate a clinical level of discipline in a managed process...

• Is the company aware of industry standard processes, procedures and documentation and do they utilize them in their business? Many people I meet do not realise that many of the tools used in process establishment and control in an assembley environment can (and in most cases should) be used in many areas of many businesses, across almost all industries. One of the core principles of modern lean engineering is total standardisation - Containment is no different. Ask them what problem solving methodology and tools they use in their own process, and how they relate to their customer's needs.

• What is their emergency response? All containment should happen in two parts - there is usually a need for a "Dirty Fix" when the level of fallout from non conforming parts could have catastrophic consequences for your customer - but this is NOT the end of the story... what should come next? And how quickly can that be initiated? What is their training methodology? Is it "operator X will show inspector Y what to do?" and if so, is that good enough? Will it be good enough for your customer?

• Do they agree that they can setup a process without any interaction from the requesting company? If so, this is sales talk. No external company can possess sufficient knowledge of another unrelated companies parts and processes and especially the nature of their problems, without any interaction. Containment needs to be, at least in the initial stages, a tight and coordinated cooperation.

In the end, double handling anything is a waste. A waste of time, a waste of energy, a waste of resource and, if you have to pay an external company to do it for you, a waste of money. But it shouldn't be without value. Find a company that is able to demonstrate all of the above, and you should also find that they can add value to your business in other ways. Don't use economy as the defining rule in your selection process, and don't get caught up in the fools economy - if two companies submit a quote for a job of 5000 EUR and 7500 EUR, you need to know what each will do for their money, and decide which offers real value. Im not trying to say that the highest priced service is necessarily the best - in fact, ask the company why they cost more than their competitors. What you need to avoid, is the following scenario:

• Budget company makes money buy hiring cheap labour, and not investing in their training and development etc.
• Budget company does not provide sufficient expertise to handle the problem
• Now you have a second customer complaint, reclamation of cost, additional work for the external company, possible additional logistics cost, and a your customer is rapidly losing confidence in you, the cost of which is hard to measure, but usually far more than the financial cost incurred so far.

Of course, this scenario can also occur with the highest priced service - it doesn't have to be associated with price, but if a company seems uncharacteristically low priced, something is usually compromised to enable profitability - just make sure its not the service they give you!

If you cant find a company that will give you the highest level of confidence possible - consider looking internally to do your own containment actions, if possible. It should save at least some of the cost (but usually just recreates the cost in another area), and your own people know your product the best - but bare in mind this is not always a good thing - loss of objectiveness.

If you need someone you can trust - try Phoenix Quality Services. We wont charge you to give you the information you need. We wont try and "sell" something you don't want / need. We will explain what we do and how we do it. We will explain why we do it the best. And then you can decide, with all the facts in mind.

                                                        Rob Stanford.

                                                                        M.D. Phoenix

Quality Services s.r.o.