An escape is a nonconforming product that successfully bypasses all internal inspection points and ships to a customer or downstream facility. Quality teams track these incidents meticulously because they directly impact customer trust and often trigger costly recalls or warranty claims. An investigation usually follows to find the hole in the inspection process.
Heard on the job
We had a major escape last week when a pallet of unpainted brackets made it all the way to the assembly plant.
Insider tip
A high escape rate usually points to a flawed inspection method or a broken testing machine rather than just operator error.