Customer Complaint - Foreign Material
Hi everyone,
We recently received a complaint about a foreign material found in one of our products, I have attached the picture below. All of our employees wear lab coats,hair nets, beard nets, etc. We also sieve the material (Powder) after blending the ingredients together. I looked over the ingredient bags and none of them see to have a string like this at all. I really don't see how it could have gotten into production, but clearly it did. Can anyone help in ways to respond to the complaint, corrective action etc.?
We were possibly thinking the foreign material could have gathered around the storage area and fell on top of the batch bag and then fell inside the product once it was opened to be filled into the bags, and consequently fell into one of the finished product bags. We can't see to find the root of the problem, exactly where the foreign material could have been brought in though.
Any advice or suggestions are welcomed. Thank you!
Attached Files
Hi everyone,
We recently received a complaint about a foreign material found in one of our products, I have attached the picture below. All of our employees wear lab coats,hair nets, beard nets, etc. We also sieve the material (Powder) after blending the ingredients together. I looked over the ingredient bags and none of them see to have a string like this at all. I really don't see how it could have gotten into production, but clearly it did. Can anyone help in ways to respond to the complaint, corrective action etc.?
We were possibly thinking the foreign material could have gathered around the storage area and fell on top of the batch bag and then fell inside the product once it was opened to be filled into the bags, and consequently fell into one of the finished product bags. We can't see to find the root of the problem, exactly where the foreign material could have been brought in though.
Any advice or suggestions are welcomed. Thank you!
Hi Lynette,
Looks fairly harmless.
There are various, typically obsequious, examples of appropriate responses scattered through the Forum, both generic and customised. Maybe try searching "complaint".
Some Companies also use Standard investigative Forms initially used to determine validations / likely repercussions, eg claims, so as to risk-tailor replies.
Dear Lynette,
it seems to fine thread, might have come from your ingredient supplier also. You mentioned that you are sieving the blend, but you have not mentioned what is the mesh size?, if you are using 20 mesh or below with vibration, then this thread will pass through the mesh. Check it once.
Once try to sieve all raw materials individually then you will come to know exactly which raw materials this type of foreign materials come from.
We also had same issue and we use 20 mesh sieve after blending, we sieved each raw material then we found that the black particles were coming from sugar powder.
Hope this helps you..
That sure looks like a cloth fiber from a uniform. I see you said your employees wear lab coats, but is your uniform dark colored? Do you have dark colored hair nets or beard nets? As Mahantesh said, you could easily have a fiber pass through a coarse mesh sieve. It would be great to know what size mesh you use in your sieve.
Hi Lynette,
The Big Boys usually have SOPs for this kind of thing.
Unfortunately, IMEX, for root causes of random cases, one can end up speculating "to the cows come home.", ie RC = unknown, potentially related Control measures tightened.
If it is believed this is a genuine, isolated incident, with no anticipated financial claim or comparable, safety/quality related consequences, the typical pragmatic response is to appropriately apologize, eg defensive comments as in OP, especially if a valued Customer..
The worst case scenario is that, after responding, it will shortly repeat again. Then there likely is a real problem.
Some Companies automatically react by simply declaring no evidence of associated responsibility. Then wait.
Hi Lynette,
Were you able to get it back and confirm it was a thread string?
Hi Lynette,
Were you able to get it back and confirm it was a thread string?
Hi,
I'm going to look into this and see if we can have them mail to us.
Dear Lynette,
it seems to fine thread, might have come from your ingredient supplier also. You mentioned that you are sieving the blend, but you have not mentioned what is the mesh size?, if you are using 20 mesh or below with vibration, then this thread will pass through the mesh. Check it once.
Once try to sieve all raw materials individually then you will come to know exactly which raw materials this type of foreign materials come from.
We also had same issue and we use 20 mesh sieve after blending, we sieved each raw material then we found that the black particles were coming from sugar powder.
Hope this helps you..
The mesh size we use is 0.036". They sent over the the foreign material and I can't find anything that matches or is similar to the string. It feels plasticy and green, and cleaning materials we have with bristles are either yellow or black, and thicker than the material in question
Hi Lynette,
Were you able to get it back and confirm it was a thread string?
Hi,
No, it feels more like a very thin bristle type string, more plastic than thread. I can pull on it and it won't break. Can't seem to find anything that is similar to this within our company.
Hi Lynette,
The Big Boys usually have SOPs for this kind of thing.
Unfortunately, IMEX, for root causes of random cases, one can end up speculating "to the cows come home.", ie RC = unknown, potentially related Control measures tightened.
If it is believed this is a genuine, isolated incident, with no anticipated financial claim or comparable, safety/quality related consequences, the typical pragmatic response is to appropriately apologize, eg defensive comments as in OP, especially if a valued Customer..
The worst case scenario is that, after responding, it will shortly repeat again. Then there likely is a real problem.
Some Companies automatically react by simply declaring no evidence of associated responsibility. Then wait.
Agreed. If you are unable to find anything in your facility made of this material, you sincerely apologize, explain your investigation techniques, and ensure proper practices took place during that particular run and that records were checked. You let them know that you have not had any other complaints of this type, and also indicate you will continue monitoring the situation and ask them to notify you immediately if this is found again.
As Charles said, if it happens again, you will have to really dig into this and find the root cause. You'll also need to address your foreign material controls to see if there is anything that can be improved.
Hmm,
Check visitor logs and any maintenance or sanitation records.
Other than that, I think you've done your due diligence and deserve a margarita. :hypocrite:
Have you looked into possibility of this coming from finished product packaging....?so could be it is origin from packaging manufacturer.