Defect Repair vs Corrective Action vs Preventive

Action
By Fahad Usmani 35 Comments

Corrective action, preventive action, and defect repair are the most commonly
used key elements in the quality management system. You must understand
these terms in order to have a better command over the quality management
processes in the PMBOK Guide.

Therefore, in this blog post, I am going to explain to you these three quality
management terms with examples so that you could acquire a better
understanding of these terms.

Okay, let’s get started.

Defect repair is an easy concept—repair the defects. However, the difference

between corrective action and preventive action is so thin that many people get
confused while trying to differentiate them.

In corrective action, you try to take action to correct the non-conformance event
that happened in the past. Whereas, in preventive action, you take action to
avoid or mitigate any potential non-conformance event that may occur in the
future.

Let us discuss these terms in further detail.

Defect Repair
Defect repair is a process of repairing the defective part or replacing it, as
needed. For example, let us say you are manufacturing some component.
Suddenly, you see that a component is in bad shape or has any kind of
discrepancy or non-conformity. You will physically inspect the material and you
will see if this defect can be corrected. If this defect can be corrected, you will
correct it. And if this defect cannot be corrected, then you will simply replace it.

Defect repair is also known as the correction and is performed when the product
does not meet the quality requirements.

Corrective Action
Corrective action is a future response to the defect repair process or the
correction, so that the cause of error or non-conformity will not occur again. For
example, let us say that during the inspection you find some defective
component, and you corrected the defective component. Now, you don’t want
this defect to happen again. Therefore, you will look into the root cause of the
problem, find a solution, and apply it to your operations so that the defects do not
occur again.

In other words, you can say that the corrective actions are the steps taken to
correct the root problem and stop the recurrence of deviation.

Corrective action is a reactive process and it is performed to bring the deviation

under control.

Preventive Action
Preventive action is an action that is taken to avoid any anticipated future defects
that may appear in the component. For example, let us say that you are going to
start the production of some component. Before starting the production process,
you think that some defects may appear on the component. Therefore, you
review your processes and procedures and make some changes (if needed) so
that the cause of anticipated defects could be prevented.

Preventive action is a proactive process.

Please note that there is a distinct difference between corrective action and
preventive action. In corrective action, a problem has occurred and you try to
make sure that this problem should not recur.

On the other hand, in preventive action, a problem has not yet occurred. You
simply take measures so that any identified problems should not occur.

In other words, you can say that the preventive action is a process of
identification of the most likely cause of any potential non-conformity in order to
prevent it from initially occurring. Preventive actions are performed to ensure that
there should not be any deviation from the baselines.

This was all about the corrective action, preventive action, and defect repair. If
have anything to comment on or share, you can do so in the comments section
below.
10 reasons for skipped stitches
19
DECEMBER 11, 2006

One common question I get is in regards to seam formation, specifically skipped stitches or
breaking threads. So why are stitches skipped? I’ve included the basics below but do feel
free to jump in with your experiences (I think Gigi is our resident in-house thread/needle
expert so this may end up being a multi-part post). Other places to get help are the thread
companies. American and Efird has a nice selection of technical support documents. One
such document from their site is Minimizing Thread Breakage & Skipped Stitches which you
may find useful; it includes a nice sketch of the basics of seam formation.

Below is my list of the most common reasons for stitch skipping and breaking, organized
according to the most common reasons with an eye towards helping you prioritize
troubleshooting. The list in order of most common occurrence:

1. Improper threading.
2. Poor clamping or insufficient pressure (flagging).
3. The needle needs replacing.
4. Wrong size needle.
5. Wrong type of needle for the material.
6. Lubrication.
7. Wrong thread for the application.
8. Poor quality thread.
9. Needle size and thread weight are mismatched.
10. Worn thread guides, paths or eyelets (burrs).

A note regarding 9 and 10: these are most common if the machine has seen a lot of use. If
the machine is new, it could mean the above are defective. I’ve rarely found defects like
these in new machines and I wouldn’t expect you would find these either unless you’ve
bought a home machine from those traveling salesmen who sell out of hotel rooms on
weekends. Have you ever bought one of those? I did, a Riccar, many years ago. Ugh.

Item #1, Improper threading is the most common reason for skipped stitches or breaking
threads. There are so many factors involved with improper threading that this alone could be
it’s own post. In order, these are the most common reasons related to improper threading:

 The needle is threaded from the wrong side.

 Machine or bobbin tension is too high.
 The needle is set incorrectly.
 The machines needs adjustment.
 The material is fed improperly, either owing to mechanism, material or operator
although the latter is less common.

Feel free to submit your questions and comments so I’ll know what -or whether- to cover
next.