"K" and "J" actions

[dallanta]

   Just wondering about how the rest of you are completing new items, or items that are just optimized.
Do you take "K" actions on these items or "J" actions?
  In my opinion, a brand  new item should never be given a "K" action, as it was probably not calibrated properly at the OEM anyway, and optimized equipent would not be also since it was not an out of tolerance condition in the first place.
  The reason I ask is because they keep shortening cycles on some good stable equipment that surprises me and that is all I can think of for their reasoning.  Of course I am discounting being just plain dumb.

[K-Rock]

Nominalization is a "J", adjustment for out of tolerance a "K". "So it is written, so it shall be..."

[tater]

   Just wondering about how the rest of you are completing new items, or items that are just optimized.
Do you take "K" actions on these items or "J" actions?
  In my opinion, a brand  new item should never be given a "K" action, as it was probably not calibrated properly at the OEM anyway, and optimized equipent would not be also since it was not an out of tolerance condition in the first place.
  The reason I ask is because they keep shortening cycles on some good stable equipment that surprises me and that is all I can think of for their reasoning.  Of course I am discounting being just plain dumb.

i agree. a new item has never been used so never gets a "K" action.

[MIRCS]

If it was out of tolerance, you action taken should be a K regardless if it is brand new or not. the manufacturer may say it needs a 12 month cycle, yet it may not make it through that cycle. So yes it should be recorded as a K. If it was just out of tolerance, then maybe keep the J on just a small adjustment.

I have heard tech's say, I'm not going to use a K on this item because i don;t want the cycle to shortened. This is not the way to do it. Follow the bible and as K-rock said.............."SO IT IS WRITTEN...........SO IT SHALL BE"

[OlDave]

It's been a few years since I was under the thumb of 00-20-14, but here's my take on the subject....

From a statistical standpoint NEITHER choice is correct. What you are attempting to do on the initial calibration of an item is to establish a baseline for future reliability estimations.

Ideally, you want the item to start it's historical reliability data with a neutral bias, and unfortunately 00-20-14 does not provide for a special "initial calibration" action taken code if I remember correctly. If you use a "J" action taken you are trending positive biases to the reliability data, conversely you are trending negative if you use a "K" action.

But on an initial calibration you don't have enough knowledge about the storage conditions of the item, transportation methods of the item, age of the item, expected usage conditions of the item, or even if the purchase contract required that the item be calibrated, to draw any kind of conclusion as to the probability the item should or should not be within specifications now, or at the end of it's assigned calibration interval. Something like that can only be determined from solid data, gathered over time, and adjusted to the required reliability requirements for the item.

So this is one of those cases where you're damned if you do and damned if you don't. Personally I preferred to give a new piece of equipment the benefit of the doubt and use a "J" action even if I had to perform an adjustment to bring it into conformance with my standards. There are just too may variables and unknowns with initial calibrations to justify using a "K" action taken in my opinion.