Meaning
Formal manufacturer commands halt the shipment and processing of suspected material within a production facility. Issuing a containment order ensures that potentially defective circuit boards or electronic modules are immediately isolated to prevent further distribution. This action is triggered by the discovery of an out-of-spec test result or a field failure.
The isolation remains in effect until the root cause of the issue is determined.
Defect Isolation
Material control teams physically lock the affected inventory in designated secure cages to prevent accidental assembly. Factory tracking software updates the status of the affected serial numbers to a blocked state. This digital lock prevents the manufacturing execution system from allowing those boards to proceed to the next assembly step.
The physical and digital controls must work together to ensure no defective parts escape.
Vendor Action
Suppliers receive a formal notification detailing the nature of the defect and the affected production lots. The supplier must then trace the root cause to a specific raw material batch or manufacturing process step. They are required to implement immediate corrective actions to prevent the defect from recurring in future shipments.
Clearance Procedure
Quality managers release the isolated material only after exhaustive testing confirms that the defect is not present. This authorization requires a formal sign-off from both the design and quality engineering departments.
