Corrective Action Software, also known as corrective and preventive action (CAPA) software, is designed to recognize, remove, and lower the odds of recurring adverse events. Adverse events have numerous causes: a manufacturing floor incident, an annual audit, or a customer complaint. Many situations such as these may initiate the corrective action process. Using a modern CAPA system provides companies with several benefits to their processes and error-rates.
Corrective Action Software Benefits
1. CAPA and Continuous Improvement
CAPA is a key element of the continuous improvement process. This process is a vital part of the Quality Management System (QMS), which is designed to consistent meet client requirements and improve their satisfaction with services rendered. Quality Assurance (QA) specialists are tasked with using corrective action software to address adverse events. Some specialists are instructed to take preventative measures to solve problems even before they start. With the continuous improvement process, a company collects quality-related data from all parts of the production and distribution cycles. This feedback from all services related to business operations provides the best chance for CAPA software to address as many discrepancies and adverse events as possible.
2. Selecting Workflow for Corrective Actions
An efficient CAPA software solution relies on the proper workflow type. Workflow is a system designed to keep business operations running smoothly and on schedule. Some businesses work best when their corrective action process is synced with a single workflow. Others use numerous workflow types and integrate them with different corrective action types. Many CAPA software solutions provide companies with the resources to switch between workflows depending on the events being assessed and handled. These systems can create different workflow solutions for safety events, manufacturing malfunctions, external audits, or customer complaints. This means that this software offers the type of flexibility to route workflow processes in the most optimized way available for each situation.
3. CAPA and Lower Cost of Quality
Measuring and handling quality costs can be a difficult and costly process. Manufacturing and other processes often have many complexities which drive up the costs of ensuring all services, equipment, processes and products pass quality control software checks. A highly-functioning CAPA system can greatly benefit an organization that wants to bring order to the data chaos impacting its operations. Efficient data management processes to precisely identify quality concerns very quickly in all phases of the production process. This is important because cost of quality increases significantly when errors or defects are identified when the product is close to reaching or has reached the customer, such as in global recalls.
4. Corrective Actions Integrated with Adverse Event Data
Entering the same data multiple time wastes work-hours, energy, and software resources that could be diverted elsewhere. CAPA software solutions allow organizations to integrate adverse events with their corresponding corrective actions whenever this is feasible. When associates enter adverse event data, the CAPA system can automatically incorporate information and highlight the most relevant corrective action forms to document and correct the original issue. This process creates a data history that analysts can trace and use in their periodic and auditing reports. Not only does this method save organizations time and resources, it also improves data visibility when it comes time to assess and report on past operational performance.
5. Conducting Investigations and Pre-Corrective Actions
Corrective action software solutions are great for ensuring consistent quality work and products, but not every problem necessarily requires such a corrective measure. Some organizations unintentionally create far too many corrective actions, which can severely limit business processes that may work better with more fluid business decisions. Corrective actions are best used to overcome system problems that are created by a significant adverse event. They should not be used to address minor discrepancies. As most events fall into the category of “minor discrepancy,” they should be immediately addressed and closed. A Corrective Action Determination or Corrective Action Investigation Record can be a very useful tool. These tools allow organizations to conduct “pre-corrective action” determinations to decide if problems should be immediately addressed or if more in-depth investigations should be initiated. Using the Corrective Action Determination process minimizes the amount of corrective actions flooding the CAPA system and saves employees valuable time in creating unnecessary corrective action forms.