Quote:
Originally Posted by retromike
.... I think this needs to be taken to the top of Thor to let them know how great their QC department is. Miramar owners or prospective buyers beware.....
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I agree that a letter to the executives at Thor will get some attention.
However, keep in mind that while it's easy to blame the QC Department, that is not the department at fault. The QC/QA Department does not make or assemble anything.
In any manufacturing environment in the past forty years the responsibility and accountability for Quality has been shifted to the actual employees who touched the pipe and capped it, in this case.
Operating on very lean budgets, U.S.A. manufacturers/assemblers long ago completely eliminated the dedicated full-time position of "inspector". Management also legally removed the "it's not my job to inspect", from all the union labor contracts, (in union shops). Many companies, in an attempt to save money, may have very well eliminated the dedicated Quality Control/Assurance Department altogether!
Except for industries such as aerospace, automotive (non-RV), drugs, medical, and food production, the accountability for a company's Quality has been deeply integrated throughout the entire organization. "Whoever touches it, is responsible for it", is the modern Lean Manufacturing mantra. In the industries that still require and maintain a dedicated Quality Control/Assurance Department it's a high level executive branch of the company that is responsible for certifications, document control, calibration, design validation testing, environmental issues, procedures, policies, safety, and the entire business management system.
If they do have a Quality Department, it's still going to be the responsibility of the actual assemblers on the floor to be directly accountable for the quality at each assembly operation. The Quality Department will be able to track down the exact Production Department employee who is responsible for capping the pipe, based on the shop traveler.
If there was a final inspection by a Quality Department inspector, they would not have seen the capped off pipe behind the installed shower, and un-drained water during testing, would have just been wiped up prior to shipment.
Just Say'in!