B A C K TO The Levels
Of Fix
BASICS
A refresher on a quality tool, concept or method
obust corrective action responses address issues at
R
three levels: output (L1), process (L2) and system
(L3). The deeper you apply a fix, the more
likely a specific problem will not return.
With the improvements to ISO 9001:2015,
businesses now must define their processes and
systems, making it clearer than ever what
must be considered in each response.
Scenario: Your customer discovers your
organization is creating parts out of spec for char-
acteristic No. 1. All of the parts have that feature out of
tolerance. Plus, 3% of product is found to be out of spec for
characteristic No. 2. Costs and customer irritation are mounting.
What must be remedied?
Let’s look at this scenario according to the three levels of fix.
L1: Fix the output
Goal: Remedy problems in final product. The goal here is to
isolate and fix the issue immediately. Because this level addresses
only the superficial issues, it is only short term. You want to make
things right with and protect the customer now.
Scenario L1 action: Dispatch a sort organization to sort
all previously shipped product that may have the same defect.
Also pinpoint where the defect began. In this case, defects were
introduced at step three of the process (see Online Figure 1,
which can be found on this column’s webpage at qualityprogress.
com). Go back to that step, contain any other product that made
it past and flag it for containment.
L2: Fix the process
Goal: Adjust the specific process(es) that permitted the defec-
tive output and develop ways to prevent short-term recurrence.
L2 involves determining whether the defect’s origin is people,
machine/materials, inputs, work instructions, the environment,
or metrics or measurements. Corrective actions here will affect
outputs directly.
Scenario L2 action: Using a turtle diagram (Online Figure 2),
identify three process breakdowns. A copy of the process blue-
print is one revision old; it is missing the most current tolerance
for out-of-spec characteristic No. 1 (methods and documents).
The equipment creating characteristic No. 2 also hasn’t been prop-
erly maintained, causing a motor malfunction, machine variation
and a lack of capability (machine and materials).
Further, the operator was not properly instructed in blueprint
revision confirmation (manpower and training). Respond by
56 || QP || November 2021
Improve the quality of
your corrective actions 
by Kenneth W. Place
providing the most current blueprint, replacing the motor
and training all operators in blueprint revision control.
L3: Fix the system
Goal: Modify the business system to prevent
L1 and L2 issues from repeating. Here at
the deepest point, corrections address
the long-term recurrence. Mark on the
system diagram which specific processes
enabled the defects (Online Figure 3).
Scenario L3 action: Human resources and
training process will update operator competency
requirements to include blueprint revision-confirmation
skills before an operator is approved/released for machine
operation (manpower and training). The preventive main-
tenance program will include tasks for maintaining the
motor (maintenance). Also mandate that operators enter
the blueprint revision letter when logging into the job.
The software will error-proof this by requiring the cur-
rent revision level (document and record control).
A lasting solution
By using the existing required structure of your ISO 9001
system and becoming proficient at identifying and correct-
ing L2 and L3, you can dramatically improve the quality
of your corrective actions and, most important, increase
customer satisfaction. Taking action only at L1 won’t clear
up the problem. Stopping after L2 often will buy you some
time, but not a lasting solution. Fixing L3 will remove your
issues once and for all. Do your corrective actions address
all three levels?  QP
EDITOR'S NOTE
The bibliography for this column can be found on the Back to Basics webpage
at qualityprogress.com.
Kenneth W. Place is the founder of Quality
Business Management Systems in Montgomery, IL.
He received an MBA from Aurora University in Illinois.
A senior member of ASQ, Place maintains four ASQ
iStock.com/Tasha Vector
certifications: quality engineer, quality auditor, Six Sigma
Black Belt and supplier quality professional. He is an active third-party auditor of
quality management systems (ISO 9001), environmental management systems
(ISO 14001) and safety management systems (ISO 45001).