Concept

What is Containment?

In 30 seconds

Containment is the immediate action taken to protect the customer and downstream processes from nonconforming product until a permanent fix is in place: sorting, quarantine, 100% inspection or stopping shipments.

How does it work?

  • The scope of suspect product is defined: in stock, in transit, at the customer and in production.
  • Product is segregated and inspected; how to mark clean product is defined.
  • The effectiveness of containment is monitored and it is kept until the permanent corrective action takes over.

Often confused with

Containment and corrective action

Containment limits the effect; it does not remove the cause. It is lifted in a controlled way once the permanent corrective action is in place and verified.

Common mistakes

  • Limiting the scope to stock inside the plant.
  • Turning containment into a permanent state and never addressing the cause.

From a QWorks perspective

In QWorks containment is owned, time-bound work tied to the case; the time to first customer response is tracked through SLA.

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