Reduce product rejects for good

Why rejects often persist

When rejects persist, adjustments are often made based on assumptions: changing a setting, adding an extra check. That costs time and money while the cause remains. Sometimes the problem is not in the product but in the inspection itself: the criteria, the measurement method or the interpretation.

Approach

1. Collect data on rejects per cause, machine, shift and product.
2. Re-analyse inspection steps and criteria: are we measuring the right thing, and measuring it correctly?
3. Establish the root cause with Six Sigma tools instead of assumptions.
4. Improve in a targeted way and embed the new way of working on the floor.

Results at Philips Drachten

In the inspection process for baby products, this approach led to a structural reduction in product rejects, without extra investment. Read the case.