The company that I currently work for is notorious for unexpected issues that move “extraneous tasks” onto the critical path. One recent example was in the production of a prototype gel pad. The prototype was commissioned as a special request (outside our current product offering) for a customer’s clinical trials. Upon completion and approval of the formulation and the manufacturing and packing procedures, production was in full swing. The “extraneous task” that found its way onto our critical path was an issue with the label that was being used to seal the final product in its production mold. As per the customer’s regulations, every prototype gel pad required a specific label to comply with certain Unique Device Identification regulations. The issue turned out to be significant as the heat sealing equipment caused the ink to warp and distort serial numbers on the seal. As such, production was ground to a halt until the seals could be properly treated to prevent the label from being distorted. Fortunately, the issue only resulted in the loss of a single day for our production team. However, this single day resulted in staff and resources being directed away from other tasks and production.