The Inspection Exercise is a simple and fun activity to drive home the concept that quality cannot be inspected in, and catching defects is very difficult and expensive. The exercise highlights that inspection is a non-value adding activity (waste) and that it is impossible to catch all defects.

The exercise can be conducted in a meeting room, classroom, workshop or any suitable space. The exercise is ideal for educating participants in a Lean Manufacturing or TQM workshop on the principles of doing things right the first time and achieving quality through prevention.

NOTE: This training package includes:
1. The Inspection Exercise training presentation (PowerPoint format)
2. The Inspection Exercise handout for participants (PowerPoint format)

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. To learn that quality cannot be inspected in
2. To learn that inspection is a non-value adding activity which can be targeted for elimination through process or quality improvement
3. To inculcate a mindset of prevention and doing things right the first time

EXERCISE SUMMARY

Participants are given 1 minute to count all of the 'f's in the paragraph. The correct answer is 36. In a class of 20, usually only 1 or 2 people will come up with 36. A common problem is the word 'of' - As the paragraph is read, most people will not count the 'f' in 'of' because it has a 'vee' sound. The key takeaway from the exercise is that inspection is a poor substitute for quality and that prevention is the most effective approach to defects elimination.