Week 3 Discussion: Product and Process control

In Reference to the 3M Article, it is quite evident that Quality of product and process goes
hand-in hand and has economic impact on the organization. In the presented case study, while
planning and implementing the quality improvement plan, 3M didn’t just focus on customer
demands, but actually looked at different factors, such as internal process, level of tests
conducted to verify and validate product performance, Level of awareness customer about
product to be delivered, documentation/ user manuals.

To get the exact idea about the root cause, they did perform numerous analysis and chart
study, which clearly depicts seeking internal and external feedback on periodic interval,
implementing root cause analysis and appropriate quality analysis tools helps narrowing down
the actual cause for the defects or poor-quality product, and aids in driving continuous
improvement in the production quality.

In case of 3M, The Top 200 method helped in finding defects at the product, and Lean Six sigma
investigated the cause of problems at the process level.
Post finding out the key defects and root causes, 3M planned and executed major corrective
action at product and process level and can be summarized with help of following point

o Ensure product and applicable standards documentation is in place. If any additional

instructions are required while handing or installing the product, generate appropriate
additional documentation.
o Capture Internal and External feedback on periodic basis
o Have adequate amount of testcase defined to verify the product performance
o Have the supporting equipment inspected and maintained on Periodic basis
o Introduce process paper work, if any assembly, manufacturing/ inspection required
forms are missing in the development process
o Conduct audits for products and process

Reference:
Jacobsen, J. (2010, November). Drives Sales Growth at 3M. https://asq.org/public/wqm/reduced-

defects-sales-growth-3m.pdf

Burke, S. A. S. R. T. E. (2022). The Certified Quality Engineer Handbook. ASQ/Infotech.