Reading time: ~5 minutes

The Setup

I was in Japan, auditing a major pharmaceutical site: multiple production buildings, a sprawling warehouse, and a bustling QC lab with about 150 staff. The company was top‑tier—every process was clearly optimized. Or so it seemed… until we walked into the QC lab and found it completely empty. The staff must have been told to vanish the instant auditors entered—approaches like this aren’t unheard of.

The Trigger

During our walkthrough, I spotted an opened bottle of HPLC‑grade acetonitrile: partially used, but… no label indicating opening date, expiry, or who authorized it. In pharmaceutical QC labs, that’s a basic standard.

So I casually pointed it out.

The Reaction

Flash to the next morning—site leadership arrived bright and early. The site manager asked, “Can we share CAPA documentation about that acetonitrile bottle?”
We hadn’t even decided if it warranted a formal observation.

Still, he’d already pulled together 150+ lab staff, before regular hours, for an hour-long session:

• 30+ presentation slides (in Japanese—so I’m trusting them on content 😉)
• A detailed training on solvent‑opening, labeling, and expiry dating
• Attendance sheets signed by everyone

Then he politely asked, “Is this enough, or should we do more?”

The Lesson

That’s when we dropped our golden‑standard rule: “A little less is also OK.”

Too often in pharma, we might trigger big CAPAs with big meetings, binders of forms, and company‑wide roll‑outs based on a small nonconformance. Sometimes all it takes is a simple correction—and it fixes behavior just as effectively, with clarity and efficiency.

✨ Two Key Takeaways

1. Target the action, not the drama. If an issue is small, address it simply—label the bottle. No need for a flash mob.
2. Demonstrate accountability. The site manager showed ownership and visibility, and that’s often half the fix.

If you liked this story, please share it with colleagues. And if you’d like to talk audits—or need help tackling complex supplier‑audit challenges—get in touch with me!