We have all heard the phrase practice makes perfect. After all, by performing a task, again and again, you are able to improve it and master the art of doing it. This is especially true in the case of manufacturing when businesses face recall due to defective or contaminated products. Recalls can happen anytime and the best a business could do is prepare itself by conducting mock recall sessions.
Wondering why mock recall sessions are important?
A mock recall helps you identify the loopholes in your process so that you can resolve them and they do not affect your productivity. Mock recalls surface your problems, the deficiencies so that you can make improvements in your system.
In today’s blog post we are going to help you with a list of best practices for mock recall in manufacturing so that you can strengthen your business for maximum productivity and enhanced efficiency.
Create a recall team
Just like any process that has a dedicated team to manage it, you need a dedicated recall management team. Train them on recall management to ensure desirable output. No matter how big or small your business is, you need to have a recall management team consisting of a recall coordinator, quality assurance specialist, communication expert, legal counsel. This team would be held accountable for recall and would be the ultimate authority in approvals.
Have a recall plan in place
The dedicated recall team should put up an effective recall plan in place for conducting mock recalls. It should provide clear guidelines on how a recall has to be conducted. It should consist of some basic information in detail. Like effective checks, appropriate disposal of products, notifying the consignees, and PR management.
Conduct a vulnerability audit
You need to identify the loopholes in your manufacturing process. Conducting a vulnerability audit will help surface the same. A vulnerability audit will help you know the problem areas, the events that could cause the crisis, and the potential damage they can do during the operational cycle. This vulnerability audit report will form the foundation of your mock recall sessions.
Conducting the mock recall
You should conduct a mock recall on the products that have maximum chances of getting recalled. Make sure that the recall is conducted in an environment and considering the scenarios that can happen. Once the product is selected, the recall team will decide how to move forward with recall management. It is important that these mock recall sessions are taken seriously. Document every step for future reference.
Determine the effectiveness of the mock recall process
It is important that you assess how effective the mock recall session has been. Things that will help you determine the same are- How quick was the recall team in recalling the product? How difficult was it to track the recalled product? Were you able to gather the necessary information required for recalling the product? Did you maintain a log of activities? Thus, answering these questions will help you determine how effective the recall plan was and what changes you need to implement to make it more effective.
Standardize the mock recall process
Once improvements and changes to the mock recall process are in process, you should standardize it according to the frequency of your business’s process. Thus, conducting them quarterly and yearly can help your business save money, time, and efforts in the long run.
You need to put an effective session in place to ensure that communication systems are working properly. Hence, you have a robust traceability system in place, and you are able to modify those aspects of recall management that can result in problems in the long run.