On Quality Management of Packaging and Printing--The Voice of God (4)

Kodak (Xiamen) Co., Ltd.

1. Requirements for packaging materials

Kodak (Xiamen) Co., Ltd. products are mainly disposable camera products sold abroad, there are two common packaging methods: one is a paper box, one is aluminum foil composite material packaging (the inner layer is aluminum foil, the outer layer is PVC material). The packaging material must not have photosensitivity. Because Kodak does not have incoming inspections, it will require suppliers to specifically control the process to prevent waste of the remaining materials.

2. Quality requirements for printing companies

Kodak emphasized that the quality of the product was obtained through process control rather than testing after completion of production. At that time, it was found that the problem could not be remedied.

As a top producer of photographic equipment, Kodak will focus on inspections of suppliers' quality systems, process control, continuous improvement capabilities, and delivery dates. Kodak's suppliers are all well-known companies. In terms of quality requirements, we must first pass the ISO quality system certification, and many suppliers have passed the more stringent French quality system certification.

The excellent printing company quality management department will understand the requirements of the end user in detail. Kodak's quality requirements, including general requirements, such as the control of color deviations, Kodak's control of Kodak's yellowish difference is very strict, requiring the use of spectrophotometers to measure L*, a*, b* values ​​in production, actual values ​​and standards. The value of the deviation must be controlled at E ≤ 4, other indicators also include friction resistance, paper folding resistance and so on.

The quality department of packaging and printing companies must also understand the co-ordination between packaging products and equipment. Because Kodak's products are automated and mass-produced, if the opening and closing force is not good enough, the equipment can be stopped and the loss cannot be counted. Kodak (Xiamen) Co., Ltd. has very strict requirements on the opening and closing force of color boxes, and has limitations on the number of device shutdowns per hour. This point may not be required by other companies, but Kodak is very concerned that if the color box cannot be opened will seriously affect the production efficiency, in the initial period of cooperation with suppliers, this issue will be more prominent, the printing company related personnel came to Kodak, Various methods and tools are used to propose improved solutions. Therefore, there are very strict requirements for the die-cutting pressure, the moisture content of the paper, and the packaging and transportation methods in the box production process.

Packaging and printing companies should use the factual management MBF to find the root cause and then thoroughly improve it. Printing companies should focus on collecting data and using various quality control tools to find, analyze, and solve problems. Emphasizing that defect prevention is better than defect inspection requires the use of tools such as FMEA for failure mode analysis. Under normal circumstances, the process capability is required to reach Cpk>1.5 and strive to reach the quality level of 6 Sigma. Also pay attention to save records to ensure traceability of batches.

Packaging and printing companies must have a documented quality management system that meets the requirements of IS09001:2000. It is important to understand the various factors that influence the quality of the process (such as training, recruitment, accuracy, employee satisfaction, equipment, etc.). Packaging and printing companies must have the ability to use data to drive improvement.

3. Kodak's recommendations for quality work

When it comes to achieving a win-win situation, an engineer from Kodak (Xiamen) Co., Ltd.'s product department believes that both parties must strengthen communication and understand each other. Kodak will often cooperate with the quality department of packaging and printing companies to carry out various project cooperation to achieve high-quality, low-cost quality goals. For example, a Kodak co-printing company often receives complaints that color boxes cannot be opened on the equipment. The two parties jointly formed a project team to jointly solve the problem. The supplier sent engineering personnel to Kodak to understand the operation of the equipment, the principle of opening the box, and suggestions for improvement of the equipment. On the other hand, Kodak also sent someone to the supplier's factory to understand the production process of the color box, and combined with the company's requirements to guide suppliers to improve the process. After joint cooperation, the problem was finally solved.

For quality issues, Kodak will ask suppliers to respond within a week. When confronted with quality problems, it is necessary to strengthen communication with end users instead of attempting to cover up problems. It is necessary to investigate in depth and cooperate with end users to solve problems. Do not accept complaints and respond with full consent to resolve the problem. Actually, no action has been taken, and it is considered to be a small problem and chances of improvement are missed.

On the other hand, packaging and printing companies should try to understand the end-user company's operations and try to adapt to the end-users' operating methods. For example, some enterprises implement lean production methods, do not set up inventory, and adopt the method of small quantities of frequent calls. Strict requirements are imposed on suppliers, and packaging and printing companies often start production at large quantities. This requires packaging and printing companies to work together with customers to formulate production plans to meet customer requirements. On the one hand, it is necessary to avoid supply delays. The customer cuts off the material and affects the customer's production; on the other hand, it also needs to avoid excessive inventory and lead to the occupation of funds.

Author: Li Yiyi Source: "packaging and decoration printing," 2005, 10 (packaging and decoration printing)