If I were "hiding" some massive top secret production problem the last thing I would do was pause production. I would absolutely carry on (No, no I actually would not) as if there was no problem at all.
A pause in production is what one does to expose production problems. It freezes components in place, it stops people from messing with covering problems up. It helps follow back through the process to see where some error has been made and gives time for inspectors and others to review parts and processes in more detail without the distraction of keeping the line moving.
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We stumbled on a case where a close look at the parts list showed that quarter inch screws were retaining footman loops with dia. 0.190 holes. Someone didn't read the specification sheet closely. It should have been caught on the prototype build.
Engineering called manufacturing asking if there were problems with this and they said "Nope. They all fit."
They all fit because someone couldn't install the first one, and went and got the whole box of them, took then to a drill press, and drilled them all out to the larger size. Thanks. Very f'n helpful. I wasn't part of dealing with the fallout - I imagine we had to create an altered item drawing to drill out a MIL-STD part for no good reason. The good news is the workers there were paid peanuts so it's not like it added a great deal to the cost.
Same assembly line was found using angle grinders at final assembly because manufacturing management decided that weld fixtures for complex parts were too expensive and, instead of inspecting and rejecting the distorted parts, they would have assemblers hammer what they could and grind what the hammer couldn't handle.
