Tinkering: the closed-loop system
How corrective action works
It's all about improvement
A preventive action is created to offset a potential problem. While the preventive action process can contribute to the overall continual improvement effort, its main objective is to eliminate potential problems before they occur. Corrective actions, on the other hand, provide managers with not only the data they need to construct an effective and efficient corrective action process, but can be used as input into preventive actions.
Using both types of actions enables:
- a company to transform itself from an operation that is continually reacting to failures, to one with the processes in place to prevent problems in the first place.
- corrective actions can help create a more positive and relaxed workplace atmosphere, ultimately supporting a sense of leisure.
- ultimately, the company saves time and money and, most importantly, retains customers.
PDCA
Plan, Do, Check, Act
Plan
Establish system
(Start)
Do
Implement and operate the system (Prevent)
Check
Monitor and revise the system (Detect)
Act
Maintain and improve the system (Respond and Recover)
Outcomes
Improved outcomes foster resilience, creativity, and innovation.
Continual improvement
Corrective actions are processes that may be used to achieve continual improvement. Continual improvement reflects an ongoing effort to improve products, services, or processes. It can be incremental improvement over time or breakthrough improvement all at once. For instance, an organisation’s delivery processes are constantly monitored and evaluated in light of the fact that they are already considered to be effective; improvement may come in the form of making the processes more efficient. Improved efficiency could lead to a decrease in administrative and operations costs, thereby lowering the costs of goods and services and providing an opportunity to lower prices to be more competitive and win more business.
Companies that implement a closed-loop corrective action process can expect to experience satisfying and cost-effective results. See above for an illustration of a closed-loop corrective action process and how it ties in to the Plan, Do, Check, Act (PDCA) process. Through continuous monitoring, issues are highlighted, thereby allowing them to be addressed in real-time.
Copyright © 2025 Tinker Champs Limited
Corrective actions and continual improvement: the closed-loop system
We need your consent to load the translations
We use a third-party service to translate the website content that may collect data about your activity. Please review the details in the privacy policy and accept the service to view the translations.