2019 HPRCT Conference

Contaminated raw materials in a manufacturing process will often result in significant financial loss.  Off-specification finished products cannot meet the needs of customers, and in some cases, inadvertent reactivity between materials may ultimately lead to loss of containment.    In this case study, contaminated bulk raw material arrives at a manufacturing plant and is introduced to a storage tank and processing equipment.  Upon discovery, a flawed original investigation points to unspecified sources of cross-contamination at a loading terminal.  After a recurrence, the root causes are much deeper within the supply chain.  Multiple “touch points” for the raw material, blending procedures, non-dedicated equipment, and analytical procedures are all found to be causal factors in this complex problem.  After using  a cause and effect methodology to identify and chart all activities, behaviors, and conditions for a series of causal events, the manufacturing team generated a list of solutions to recommend new administrative and engineering controls.  In the end, the controls needed to assure a supply of material within the needed specification range were too onerous for the supplier, and the manufacturing customer chose to replace the supplier.