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In the fast-paced automotive industry, small changes in Man, Machine, Material, or Method (4M) can have a big impact on product quality and customer satisfaction. Managing these changes systematically helps organizations reduce risks, improve traceability, and comply with standards like IATF 16949. This article explains the purpose, scope, examples, tools, and benefits of 4M Change … Read more
Introduction In today’s competitive manufacturing environment, ensuring consistent product quality and process compliance is critical. Traditional audits often occur too late in the process, catching defects only after they have occurred. Layered Process Audit (LPA) addresses this by proactively checking processes at multiple organizational levels, including operators, supervisors, managers, and executives. What is a Layered … Read more
Introduction A Quality Manager’s role is often misunderstood as simply “preparing documents or checking for defects.” In reality, it’s a dynamic position that requires balancing quality assurance, people management, and process optimization. Whether in manufacturing, automotive, healthcare, or services, a Quality Manager is the glue that holds the quality management system (QMS) together. Every day … Read more
In the fast-paced world of manufacturing, ensuring product quality doesn’t stop once the item leaves the production line. One of the final—but most crucial—steps in the quality control process is the dock audit. What is a Dock Audit? A dock audit is a final inspection conducted at the shipping or receiving dock of a manufacturing … Read more
MTTR (Mean Time To Repair) and MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures) are key maintenance metrics. They help measure machine performance and reliability. Lean Manufacturing and IATF 16949-certified automotive industries use them widely. These metrics support efforts to improve Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE).” MTTR and MTBF are very useful Lean Tools of manufacturing industries. These two key performance … Read more
The Single Minute Exchange of Dies (SMED) concept was developed by Shigeo Shingo, an industrial engineer at Toyota. It refers to the process of reducing the time required to change over a machine or production line from one product to another to under 10 minutes. The primary goal of SMED is to do for faster … Read more
The Occupational Health and Safety management system (ISO 45001:2018) is for health and safety in an industry. There are 10 clauses in this standard as per the ISO 9001:2015 standard. The first 3 clauses provide the background of the standard. The remaining 7 clauses deliver the requirements of the ISO 45001:2018 standard. This standard is based … Read more
Process Scope This process is applicable for establishing a system for strategic business plan and monitoring relevant measurable objectives to enhance the organization’s performance to achieve business goals and to ensure overall business growth. Process Owner Top Management (MD/Plant Head) Process Description Identify all the internal and external issues that affect the company’s business policies … Read more
Process Scope This process is applicable for maintaining a system for timely receipt, storage and issue of materials from Stores and on-time delivery of products to the customer as per their requirement. Process Owner STORE-IN CHARGE Process description Handling of BOP/Raw Material: Colour coding of Raw Material Issue of Raw Material/ BOP Components to Production … Read more
Process Scope: This process is applicable to establish a system for the identification and disposition of non conforming products at all stages i.e., Incoming, In-process, Finished stages and Customer return. Process Owner: HOD Quality Process Description: Process to control Incoming Rejection: Non-conforming Products at all stages (incoming, in-process & final) shall be identified with a … Read more