What do football and corrective and preventive action (CAPA) have in common? More than you may think. As the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs prepare for this weekend’s big game, let’s consider how the CAPA process in quality management can be compared to these teams’ game strategy.  

  1. Assessment: Just as these teams evaluate their performance after each game and make changes to improve for the showdown on Sunday, a quality management team assesses their quality performance and implements corrective actions to improve and prevent future issues. 
  1. Structure: The Eagles and the Chiefs have a set of plays and strategies that they follow. Likewise, a successful CAPA process has a structured workflow and defined steps that are followed each time a quality issue arises. In addition, the coaches and players review their respective game footage to identify strengths and weaknesses, and make adjustments; similarly, a quality management team uses data and analysis to identify the root cause of quality issues and implement effective corrective actions. 
  1. Teamwork: Just as each team must work as a cohesive unit to execute their game strategy, a successful CAPA process requires collaboration and communication between different departments and stakeholders to ensure that corrective actions are taken quickly and effectively. 

In both football and quality management, the goal is to continuously improve and achieve success. This is possible by assessing performance, using data and analysis to make improvements and working as a team.