Top 10 Failures in Manufacturing
If you are looking for a list of spectacular manufacturing failures, where products fail to perform as intended, that is not this story (although I would bet at least one of these listed failures happened in every one of those spectacular mistakes). Rather, these are walk-around rules for people who might find themselves on a plant floor, buy manufactured products, sell manufactured goods, or just want to be informed of the manufacturing world.
1. We have to start somewhere and the blueprint is a good place to start.
Regardless of what the boys in production think if there is a tight tolerance on something it is there for a reason. Too many people say “sure!” without a full blueprint review. No sales guy wants to call a customer and ask to deviate from the print a week after the parts were due. It’s obvious to everyone concerned somebody didn’t read the print. There is a ton of information in that print, and you have to be equal parts Sherlock Holmes and accountant to figure it all out. But someone, at some point, “owns” that print in a manufacturing program. If it is you, make sure everyone else understands it too.