Supplier Corrective Action Request
In the event a supplier is issued a corrective action request, the request must be completed on time and include a full analysis of the failure noted on the request. Once the analysis is completed the corrective action document shall be sent to your respective Commodity Manager prior to the due date listed on the SCAR.
A complete SCAR includes the following information:
Short Term/Containment Action
An action that immediately prevents the customer from receiving any more non-conforming product.
Examples of Containment:
· Quarantine and sort inventories
· Implement 100% inspection
· Address in-transit material
Root Cause Analysis
Root Cause Analysis (RCA) is a process of discovery. What happened, why did it happen and how can it be prevented using the basic premise that errors and failures that occur are a result of the process, not simply the action or the people. It is best to look at a defined problem with different people to get different perspectives. More times than not, problems have more than one root cause. Fixing multiple root causes provide greater assurance the problem will not reoccur.
Root Cause Analysis is a 3-step process:
1. Define the problem (What?)
2. Ask Questions (3 Legged 5 Why)
3. Corrective and Preventative Action (How? - Answer each leg of the 5 Why form)
Problem definition is the basis of all effective corrective actions. Without a clearly defined problem, it’s difficult to nearly impossible to develop an effective corrective action.
The key to getting to the root cause is asking “Why” enough times that the permanent corrective action to fix the problem becomes obvious. The general rule is 3-5 times or more. Examples of tools to help get to a root cause are:
· Fishbone Diagram*
· Cause and Effect Table*
· SIPOC Chart* (Supplier, Input, Process, Output, Customer)
· Cause Map*
What constitutes a “good” corrective action?
1. Containment Action is taken right away
2. Corrective Action addresses the identified Root Cause
3. Involves a permanent change in the process
4. Prevents the problem reoccurrence on the product and similar products
5. Is implemented prior to the SCAR being closed
* Available upon request