This story in the Irish Examiner caught our eye recently:

mix-up-leaves-350-potential-jurors-calling-sex-line-

It’s an example of a classic digit transposition error in telephone numbers, but in this case the wrong number called was one that might cause offence for some of the people making the call. Also, as the article points out, there was a question over whether the County Clerk would be liable for the cost of calls to the (almost certainly premium rated) sex line.

The article ends with the Count Clerk saying they’d be reviewing all letters that went out in future. This is an example of Scrap and Rework – a non-value adding action that catches defects but doesn’t actually improve the process.

A better solution: Change the phone number for the jury duty office so that it is different to the sex line and the transposition error cannot occur. Or use a standard letter template that has been properly proof-read.

But checking each letter… that’s not cost effective or sustainable as a quality control.