CORRECTIVE ACTION & PREVENTIVE ACTION

Corrective Action & Preventive Action (CAPA) are two similar processes that organizations use to bring about continual improvements.  Corrective action is taken to correct a problem that has already occurred or been observed; whereas preventive action is taken to address factors that have potential to occur.  These processes should be used together to improve an organization’s performance, in fact Quality Management Systems like ISO 9001, AS9100, ISO 13485, and TS 16949 require the use of CAPA and a procedure to govern each.

The notion of corrective action is relatively simple and typically well understood:  a nonconformance has occurred and it needs to be mitigated, the cause understood, and action taken to permanently address the cause.  But conducting preventive actions is somewhat different because potential problems need to be identified.  One way to identify potential problems is to use a tool like FMEA (failure modes and effects analysis) which rates potential problems with a risk potential number (RPN).  The team uses the RPN to identifiy the most significant potential problems and implements actions to prevent their occurrence.  Another way to identify potential problems is to use trend analysis to monitor characteristics and metrics.  As a characteristic’s value indicates a negative trend i.e. toward a spec or control limit, action is taken to prevent it. One other way to identify potential problems is to use read across which is when a problem is identified on one product or service and the corrective action is read across to other similar processes to prevent the same type of problem from occurring on that process.

CAPA are typically documented on a Corrective Action Report (CAR), sometimes the “R” is for Request or Supplier Corrective Action Request (SCAR) which specifies a method for documenting the process used to solve the problem.  The most common CAR format is known as the 8D or 8 Disciplines which is a problem solving form and methodology.  There are a variety of different approaches to problem solving and documenting the activities.  View the Problem Solving page for more details.

Home  |  Webmaster  |  Contact TQMR  |  Privacy Policy  |  Linkbacks

THE QUALITY MANAGEMENT RESOURCE

CORRECTIVE ACTION & PREVENTIVE ACTION

Home  |  Webmaster  |  Contact TQMR  |  Privacy Policy |  Linkbacks

THE QUALITY MANAGEMENT RESOURCE

CORRECTIVE ACTION & PREVENTIVE ACTION