Let us continue the Salmonella discussion and other stupid things that people do that puts us at RISK.

I recall a news report that said State Patrols are purchasing FORD CROWN VICTORIA’S and having an extra gas tank added.  Only one problem: in rear end collisions the new gas tanks could explode.  And, FORD had the exploding gas tank issue with the FORD PINTO years ago.  So what happened to lessons learned and why do problems repeat themselves? 

CORRECTIVE ACTION
What happened to corrective action to prevent this from happening again?  One solution is for all employees, starting with upper management, to learn and fully understand RISK MANAGEMENT.  Does your organization fully understand Risk Management?  RM is now part of many International Standards like AS9100 (AEROSPACE), ISO9001 (BUSINESS), ISO13485 (MEDICAL), TS16949 (AUTO) and many more.

Let’s look at your organization?  Does your organization fully understand its customers Purchase Orders and ALL the REQUIREMENTS before signing on the dotted line?

Recently, we had a salmonella scare.  Was this peanut butter manufacture registered to AS 9100, ISO 9001 or any International Quality Standard?  Did the organization have a Quality Manual?  If yes, what process or processes went wrong?  Why didn’t the internal audits show that there were problems that are now being shown in court?  Problems like holes in the roof, rodents, cockroaches and more have to be detected, corrected, and mitigated for good.

SHIPPING PRODUCTS
Shipping product based on time to meet JIT (Just in Time) PO requirements and we know is bad does not always work.  We ship and then bill the customer so we can meet our payroll.  This will not always work as the customer will return the defective product and then debit your account and not pay you until they receive product that they can use and is free of all defects.

And then, there are games.  Suppliers sometimes put questionable products in the bottom of the box and good product in the top of the box.  The supplier hopes that the sample will be taken from the top but not so now.  The inspector should take the box and turn it over so that all the parts are on the table.  Then lay out the parts in rows and use his calculator to determine what items in each row to sample.  Now with C=0 the sample size may be less then MIL-STD-105 but there is no longer an Accept and Reject numbers from the lot being inspected.  This is called Acceptable Quality Level (AQL).

So, do we really want to put an AQL of 5% in our stock knowing that this means we will accept up to 5% defective product.  Some people call AQL “A Quick Look.”  With C=0 if one defect is found in the small sample then the entire lot is rejected.

CRITICAL QUESTIONS TO ASK
If we have peanut butter from several of the recalled manufactures do we do a sample or reject the entire jars?  No need to use C=0 as we do not want to use or consume the suspected peanut butter for fear of Salmonella.  This fear of Salmonella should have prevented the truck from being allowed to deliver the peanut butter until the test results were known.

You know there’s going to be an investigation.  Good questions for the investigation team to ask are:

• Have there been previous tests where Salmonella was reported and did the trucks still deliver the product?
• How many times in the last 5 years had the peanut butter failed tests and what were the test failures?
• How many of these failed test products were delivered to the customers?
• What happened to the failed product that was not delivered?
• Why did this Salmonella issue happen again and what is being done to prevent it from happening again?
• What tests did the customer do to ensure that the peanut butter was safe before they put it in their products or did they rely only on the certification that they received with the shipment?
• Whose signature was on the certificate and what was the person’s title?
• What other products that people eat that contain peanut butter and were these products in need of recall too?
• What restaurant chains used this peanut butter?

Anyway, you get the idea.  These questions were not asked or if they were, the root causes were not addressed.

WITH ALL THIS EXPERIENCE
I have over 30 years of experience in Quality Engineering, Source Inspections, Supplier Audits and Training, Process and Product Audits, Food Industry like AIB (American Institute of Baking) and BRC (British Retail Consortium), Lean Enterprise Applications, Risk Analysis & Control Plans, CAPA (Corrective Action and Preventative Action), 6 Sigma Green Belt, FOD (Foreign Object & Debris) investigations, AS9100 & ISO 9001 Audits and helping organizations prepare for their registration audit.  Anyway, you get the idea.  I’ve been in quality a long time.

I would really like to work with the investigation team in determining how this Salmonella issue happened and what is being done to prevent it from happening again at both the manufacturer of the peanut butter and it’s customers.  Who are other suppliers of peanut butter and what tests do they do to ensure it is safe for humans?

Does the peanut butter manufacturer keep a jar/sample of the peanut butter for later analysis if there is a need for testing?  Is the peanut butter sample stored at the proper temperature to prevent contamination?  I recall a beer manufacture that kept bottles of each tank brew for later analysis in case there was an issue.

Was it really worth the gamble to ship this peanut butter without the tests results just to make some money and put people’s lives at RISK?  The answer of course is NO.

Quality gets no respect.  Risk seems to get a lot more respect.   And, that’s why I think it’s the future of the profession.

QUALITY FIRST
We live in a fast paced environment but still need to FULLY UNDERSTAND all the consequences of our actions.  We must put RISK BASED, QUALITY FIRST and then profits second.  Quality First will bring profits and repeat business.  Quality First will mean that your organization will stay in business and has a future.

I recall a sign over the employee’s entrance door for a company that reads, “QUALITY STARTS HERE.”  How about the door that upper management enters every day?

It makes me mad that this happened and people lost their lives.  I would hope that the jury  would convict, judge imprisons the perpetrators, and forces them to eat their peanut butter at least two times a day.

Bio:

Bill Walker has over 40 years helping organizations eliminate muda and improve their bottom line.  He has worked Commercial, Aerospace, Military, Marine, FAA, Medical and NASA programs.  While attending AAQG meetings he worked on the Standards Committee and helped write AS 9000, AS 9100, AS 9003, AS 9102 and other Quality Standards.  He graduated from South Seattle Community College where he taught and coordinated the only Quality Assurance Program of Study in Washington State.  While working for major OEM’s he has performed Audits, Source Inspections of products, employee training, supplier training and development plus First Article Inspections.  Has 100% success rate at helping companies prepare and obtain AS 9100/ISO 9001 Certifications on their first attempt.  He is a 6 Sigma Green Belt with mechanical, electronic, food service, Lead Assessor, composite and other process experience.  He can be reached at: billwalkerrm@gmail.com.