Exploring CAPA in Manufacturing: The Role of RFID in CAPA Management

Quality and efficiency are key to success in manufacturing. This is where Corrective and Preventive Action (CAPA) play a vital role. CAPA, a structured method for problem-solving, helps manufacturing companies to identify and fix problems in the manufacturing process.

In this blog post, we’ll explore about CAPA in manufacturing along with a real-world CAPA example. We will also learn how RFID tracking can help improve CAPA management.

CAPA in Manufacturing

CAPA is a dynamic framework employed in manufacturing that acts as the standard of quality. Its mission is clear: identify issues, rectify them, and prevent their recurrence. In essence, CAPA safeguards product quality and ensures operational efficiency.

The manufacturing sector relies on precision, consistency, and reliability. Poor quality can have a big impact on the bottom line, brand reputation, and customer satisfaction. CAPA is the backbone holding these elements together. Let’s explore this with a real-world use case.

Real-World CAPA Use Case

A device manufacturer employed a weld chamber to perform welds on the device to render a cavity airtight. The integrity of the weld was vital to its functionality. Once the cavity was welded, it is removed from the weld chamber and tested for leaks after a set period of time. The ‘period of time’ was determined as x minutes after the weld was complete. The timestamp of the weld completion was recorded manually by the technician.

There was a case where the welding technician forgot to manually record the timestamp before he went on a break. The timestamp was updated after the break. This delay caused a leaking device to pass the leak test because the gas had already escaped before the test was done. This error triggered a CAPA to be issued.

The Need for CAPA

On investigating their manufacturing process, the manufacturer realized that a critical piece of data was being input manually, which was of course, subject to human error. It was clear that Corrective and Preventive Action (CAPA) was needed to address this oversight.

The remedy was to install an RFID read point at the entrance and exit of the weld chamber, so the timestamp of the weld was automatically recorded, thereby eliminating a manual update of critical information.

Real-Time RFID Tracking System for Efficient CAPA Management

AssetPulse’s real-time RFID Asset Tracking system offers a multitude of benefits for remedying CAPA incidents. Since these RFID solutions can effectively automate critical business processes, where manual input is eliminated, the overall quality of the manufacturing process, and therefore the quality of the manufactured product increases.

The RFID tracking system makes sure that the manufacturing steps are performed in the right sequence and sends alerts if there is any deviation. All the above processes are done automatically without any human intervention. It not only saves time, but also helps rectify bottlenecks, thereby optimizing the manufacturing process, reducing cost and improving efficiency.   

AssetPulse’s real-time RFID Tracking system helps companies to identify and fix problems quickly. It also helps to streamline the process to prevent such problems in the future.

With such a robust RFID asset tracking system in place, managing hundreds of CAPA procedures is a breeze. It helps manufacturing companies to maintain high standards of product and process quality.