Doing the Right Thing vs. Doing Things Right — From ...

> TL;DR: Most production support teams operate like fire departments that only fight fires — they never inspect buildings or run fire drills. True quality engineering means shifting from reactive firefighting (corrective action) to proactive fire prevention (preventive action), aligned with IATF 16949 Clause 10.2.4 and the broader 8D methodology. The Firefighting Trap A production support manager I once worked with described his team as a "fire brigade." They spent every shift rushing from one emergency to another, barely keeping the line running. When I asked what they actually did, he said without hesitation: "We fight fires." This is a classic cognitive trap. In professional fire safety, "firefighting" is the last resort — not the core mission. The heart of fire safety is prevention. Professional fire departments spend the vast majority of their effort BEFORE a fire starts: Reviewing building designs for fire code compliance Inspecting fire extinguishers, sprinklers, and exits Conducting safety education and fire drills Identifying and eliminating hidden risks Their primary mission is to prevent fires from happening. Emergency firefighting only activates when prevention has failed. The Parallel in Quality Engineering Production support teams in automotive and manufacturing often fall into the same trap: heavy on corrective...