Quality escapes, defective products that make it to the customer, often trace back to shift handover gaps. A quality hold placed by the day shift QC team gets missed by the night shift, and 5,000 defective units ship before anyone realizes the hold was in place.
Common quality handover failures
- Quality holds not communicated: Product on hold for inspection gets released by the next shift because they didn't know.
- Specification changes mid-run: Engineering updated a tolerance on the day shift, but the night shift runs to the old spec.
- Inspection results not shared: Day shift QC found a trending defect rate but the data doesn't reach the night shift operators.
- Supplier issues: A raw material lot showed variability on day shift testing. Night shift uses the same lot without adjustment.
Building quality into the handover
- Mandatory quality section: Every shift handover must include a quality update. Even if it's "no issues."
- Active holds list: Every incoming shift must review and acknowledge all active quality holds before starting production.
- Specification change alerts: Any spec change gets flagged with "Immediate" urgency in the handoff.
- Defect trend data: Share inspection results and trending data, not just pass/fail.
Structured handovers prevent quality escapes
ShiftVoice ensures quality issues are categorized, assigned urgency levels, and tracked with acknowledgment receipts. When the night shift supervisor acknowledges a quality hold, there's a timestamped record. No more "I didn't know about the hold." Learn more about ShiftVoice for manufacturing.