Every monthly figure moves. Product mix, holidays, one large order and plain chance move it. The skill in reading a quality report is telling the moves that mean something from the ones that don't. The kit uses a few plain rules, all of them standard and none of them ours alone:
- Status on three months, warning on one. The dashboard sets each measure's status on the last three months and shows the latest month beside it. One month off target with the three-month figure on target is usually noise; three months off target is a change.
- Direction against the three months before. Better, worse or no change. A measure on target and getting worse deserves a comment before it goes off target.
- Months on target out of twelve. The plainest measure of whether a target is met as a habit.
- Control limits for counts. The NCR trend (AQL-F09) works out a center line and an upper limit the way a c-chart does. A month above the limit, or eight months in a row above the center line, is a signal worth investigating. A month that is merely worse than the last is not.
- Stratify before concluding. Split a total by shift, supplier, operation, part or customer. The total can improve while one part of it gets worse.
When a line is off target, the comment against it answers three questions in one or two sentences: what moved it (named: the part, the supplier, the shift), whether it is a signal or noise, and what is being done. 'Supplier on-time delivery off target and getting worse: Supplier F, our only anodizer, at 71 percent; second source approved' is a comment management can act on. 'Supplier delivery down' is not.
Reading each starting measure
What usually moves each of the twelve starting measures in a machining or aerostructures shop, where to look first, and the kind of action that usually follows. Starting points from our own experience; your shop will add its own.
| Measure | What usually moves it | Look first at | Typical action |
|---|---|---|---|
| On-time delivery | Supplier and outside-process delays; capacity on one machine; first articles; promise dates set without checking capacity | The late-line cause log, split by cause | Fix the largest cause: a second source, a weekend cell, capacity checked at order entry |
| Customer returns (PPM) | One escape event with many parts; part mix; returns of suspect parts | The return log by event, not by part | Treat each event as an escape with a corrective action |
| Customer escapes | Inspection that samples too lightly; a new part; packing and labeling | The escape's escape cause | Corrective action on both causes (AQL-B12, AQL-B03) |
| Customer complaints | Paperwork (certificates, first article reports), delivery, service | The complaint log by type | Fix the process behind the type that repeats |
| First-pass yield | New parts and revisions; setups; one problem machine | Lots reworked, by part and operation | Setup and first-piece discipline; capability on the problem feature |
| Internal NCRs raised | Setups, tool wear, handling, a new machine or shift | The cause Pareto and the shift column (AQL-F09) | One corrective action on the top cause |
| Scrap and rework (% of sales) | A few expensive scrap events; sales falling while scrap holds | The cost columns on the Paretos | An improvement case on the costliest cause (AQL-F11) |
| Corrective actions shown effective | Effectiveness checks never booked; actions closed on implementation | The aging dashboard's closed versus shown effective (AQL-B09) | Book every check on the day the action is implemented |
| Corrective actions past due | Actions blocked outside the owner's control; dates set before the cause was known | Overdue actions by stage and owner | Unblock or escalate; reset the date once, with a reason |
| Supplier on-time delivery | One supplier, often a single source or outside processor | Late lines by supplier | Escalation, a recovery plan, a second source |
| Receiving rejects (PPM) | One supplier's recurring defect; a large lot rejected whole | Rejects by supplier and defect | Supplier corrective action; tightened receiving until it holds |
| Internal audits done to plan | Auditors pulled into production; audits clustered at year end | The audit program by month | Spread the program; train a second auditor |
Need more than one resource, or not sure where to start? Book a complimentary 30-minute Aegis Quality Guidance Call. We'll find the tools that fit your situation and a sensible place to start. No sales pressure, no obligation.
A management aid, not certification or a registrar audit. Using it does not by itself show conformity to AS9100D or any other standard, and your customers' requirements may add to it.
Clause numbers refer to AS9100D (SAE AS9100 Rev D) unless another document is named. The standards' text is not reproduced here: use your own licensed copy.
Aegis Insights are our own guidance, labeled wherever they appear: how we approach this work, not a requirement of any standard or customer.