In this episode of Ask the Experts, Director of Operations Tim Lackey explains what a CAR is—a corrective action request. The Use of CARs is extremely valuable to ensure quality and accuracy in transactional print and mail. The report of measures addresses the root causes of non-conformance to prevent the recurrence of these issues.
Tim described a CAR as a way to understand why errors occur. “We have two kinds at PCI Group. We consider something that goes out and a customer catching it as the worst kind, and we call it an external or customer-facing CAR.
When this occurs, we immediately launch an investigation, typically having a response for customers within a few hours. “We check our data logs, event logs, and cameras to find the root of the problem. We ultimately go back to the standard work and if it was being followed. We ask a series of questions on why this happened,” Tim shared.
In addition to an external CAR, we also have internal ones. “When things happen internally, and we catch them before they go out, that’s the gold mine. Those are the things we can capitalize on to improve our processes and make sure those types of errors never reach our customers,” Tim said.
Our commitment to quality and accuracy is the driver of using CARs. With this additional layer of oversight, we can be more confident in our production processes.
