QIC Guru

A corrective action is a change implemented to address a weakness identified in a quality management system. Normally corrective actions are implemented in response to a customer complaint, internal nonconformities, nonconformities identified during an internal audit or adverse trends in product and process monitoring such as would be identified by In-coming, in process and final inspection.

In order to implement a corrective action one must first determine root cause. Root cause analysis is a type of problem solving aimed at identifying the root causes of problems or events. The practice of root cause analysis is based on the belief that problems are best solved by attempting to correct or eliminate root causes, as opposed to merely addressing the immediately obvious symptoms. By directing corrective measures at root causes, it is hoped that the likelihood of problem recurrence will be minimized. However, it is recognized that complete prevention of recurrence by a single action is not always possible. Therefore, root cause analysis is often considered to be a repetitive process, and is frequently viewed as a tool of continuous improvement.

Root cause analysis, initially is a reactive method of problem detection and resolving. This means that the analysis is done after an event has occurred. Expertise in root cause analysis can become a pro-active method. This means that root cause analysis is able to predict the possibility of an event even before it could occur.