A good night's sleep

"What's keeping you up at night?" Those who worry, know how to fix it: solve the problem, then you will be back to resting easy. I asked the question to a QA manager at a food-production company. He did not have to think about it for long. "...I hope that there are no recalls for us, because of listeria or anything else..."  
His company had recently developed a new product—that was the good news. The product developers had put all their passion into it. They thought of everything: the flavour, the texture and portion size, the packaging, the machines, and the process. "Were you present during the design process?" I asked. "Unfortunately, I was," he answered. I now understood his concern.

This quality assurance manager and I are passionate about the same thing: food safety. We are the types who want to check every detail involving how you made the production process as food-safe and sanitary as possible. We want it done in a way that will make sure you worry and incur costs as little as possible. A good design prevents expensive challenge testing after the fact. Seems obvious, right? Maybe. But then why do things go wrong so often?

Here is an example: each month, we inspect food products for the presence of plastic fragments. More specifically, this is done because it has happened before. Apparently, the machine and the process were designed in a way that allows it to continue. Could this have been prevented? I think it could have, at least, if they had involved the right people in the process from the beginning and during the design phase. In any case, a quality assurance manager should have been there. I realise that this advice is not so great for my business, but that is not important right now. Right now, I want you all to get a good night's sleep and making well-informed decisions helps you do that.

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