Archive for the ‘Business Management System Tools For Today’ Category
My Customer Wants Us Certified to AS9100, HELP!
You are a small business owner who has just been told you must become certified to AS9100 in order to continue to receive business from your largest customer. You have been putting this off for some time, hoping you would be able to wait until the economy gets better. Now what, you have a deadline and you haven’t got a clue how to get there from here? The best advice, find a competent consultant and get some training to the standard.
Those organizations who recruit good consultants get the job done roughly twice as fast. By helping you avoid mistakes, a good consultant can help you get the job done faster. But only a good consultant can do this. Not all consultants are created equally, and it is important to select a consultant that is right for you. A reputable consultant works hard to ensure that you fully own your quality management system at the time of registration. Key services you will require, if you have no idea what you are doing or how you will do it are as follows:
1. Required documentation development and implementation
2. Training: Quality policy and objectives, Management review, Corrective and Preventive action, Internal auditing, AS9100 Overview, Risk analysis, Overview of the Complete QMS, Collecting and analyzing data.
3. If software is being used to facilitate and run your quality system, you will also need training and implementation services for this.
4. Implementation of a competency, awareness and training program, internal audit, corrective and preventive action programs, management review and overall continual improvement programs.
5. Conduct internal audits for entire system (all processes), one high level internal audit to the AS9101C checklist in preparation for registration audit.
This is just a short list of services that you may need to accomplish your goal of certification to AS9100. Depending on the size and complexity of your organization and processes more may be needed. A good consultant can help you determine your individual needs.
Root Cause Analysis and Continual Improvement
Root cause analysis is a class of problem solving methods aimed at identifying the root causes of problems or events. The practice of root cause analysis is based on the belief that problems are best solved by attempting to correct or eliminate root causes, as opposed to merely addressing the immediately obvious symptoms. By directing corrective measures at root causes, it is hoped that the likelihood of problem recurrence will be minimized. However, it is recognized that complete prevention of recurrence by a single action is not always possible. Thus, root cause analysis is often considered to be a repetitive process, and is frequently viewed as a tool of continuous improvement.
Root cause analysis, initially is a reactive method of problem detection and solving. This means that the analysis is done after an event has occurred. By gaining expertise in root cause analysis it becomes a pro-active method. This means that root cause analysis is able to forecast the possibility of an event even before it could occur.
A well implemented quality management system will include training and understanding of how root cause analysis tools and techniques can be used to promote continuous improvement.
Sustained Success, What Does It Take?
The new version of ISO 9004 is based on the principle that satisfying customers may bring success, but to sustain success organizations need to go the extra mile and satisfy the needs and expectations of all interested parties. It is an attempt at relating quality management principles to the quest for sustained success in an organization, but it does not add anything new by way of management principles. It is portentous that sustained success can be achieved by clever application of the eight quality management principles through a system of practically managed processes that:
- Continually monitor and analyze the organization’s environment
- Define the needs and expectations of interested parties
- Create and maintain a mission, a vision and values consistent with the needs and expectations of interested parties
- Clearly specify, implement and communicate a strategy and policies for fulfilling the mission and vision which supports the values
- Identify, provide and manage the internal and external resources needed for the achievement of the objectives in the short and long term
- Provide products that will continue to meet the needs and expectations of customers and other interested parties, on an ongoing basis.
- Regularly monitor, measure, analyze and review the performance of the organization
ISO 9001 Don’t Survive, Thrive!
Why is it that when times get tuff most companies invest most of their time and money in short term short sited goals? The ultimate goal of any company should be more than just survival; it should be forward thinking total sustained success. How can a company reach for and attain sustained success with the economy in such distress? The best way is to invest in continuous process improvements that result in cost reductions and increased market share.
Becoming certified to the industry standards that your industry leaders are requiring is the surest way to stand out and get noticed. If your competition is already certified to ISO 9001, AS 9100, RC 1400, ISO 1400 or some other industry standard, they have a decided advantage over you and how much more business they will receive as a result of this certification. If you are certified, how well you manage your business processes can help or hurt your progress toward sustained success.
Many companies go after certification to satisfy a customer request or simply because they believe it the right thing to do. However, the majority of the organizations that embark on the road to certification, go into the process ill equip and ill informed. The result of such endeavors usually produces a business management system which may ultimately result in certification, but offers no advantages and becomes just another expense to absorb.
My advice, get educated, hire a competent business management consultant if you fell you need one, and make your business management system your own. Every business is different and so each business management system should be unique as well. Don’t waste hundreds of thousands of dollars and years of consulting fees to reach you goals. Take ownership of your system and make it a transparent part of your everyday work experience. When a well designed business management system is implemented, it is effortless and provides real tangible benefits that result in sustained success. Don’t survive, thrive.
ISO 9004 Satisfying Customer Needs
The upcoming revision of ISO 9004 is based on the principle that satisfying customers may bring success, but to sustain success organizations need to delve much more deeply and satisfy the needs and expectations of all interested parties. This attempt suggests applying quality management principles to the quest of sustained success in an organization, but nothing new is added by way of quality management principles. It is implying that sustained success can be accomplished by intelligent use of the eight quality management principles through a system of hands-on managed processes that:
- Continually monitor and analyze the organization’s environment
- Define the needs and expectations of interested parties
- Establish and maintain a mission, a vision and values consistent with the needs and expectations of interested parties
- Deliberately set out, implement and communicate a strategy and policies for fulfilling the mission and vision which supports the values
- Identify, provide and manage the internal and external resources needed for the accomplishment of the objectives in the short and long term
- Provide products that will continue to meet the needs and expectations of customers and other interested parties, continuously.
- Regularly monitor, measure, analyze and review the continual success of the organization
Focus on Sustained Success ISO 9004
Why the new focus on “sustained success? ISO 9004 is trying to answer the question, what is the purpose of quality? In 2000, the standard looked at customer requirements in the widest possible sense. Now with the 2009 rewrite, it is addressing why you should do that. The answer to this: to achieve sustained success for an organization over the long term.
Does the new direction of ISO 9004 indicate the future direction of ISO 9001? Quite possibly yes, ISO 9001 has to be written to provide consistent objective assessment across different organizations, but ISO 9004 calls for subjectivity. Wherever we can transfer the subjective advice in ISO 9004 into ISO 9001 in the future, it will probably be done.
For a small business to survive in the current economy, sustained success is a driving force that can sometimes determine whether or not an organization will survive. Although this standard is not intended for certification purposes, a strong business management consultant can assist an organization, which is already ISO 9001 certified, by coaching them on how to implement this standard.
What Is The Objective Of the AS9100 Rewrite?
The objectives of AS9100:2009 are to:
- Incorporate ISO 9001:2008 changes
- Expand the scope to include aviation, space, and defense as well as land and sea based systems for defense applications
- Ensure alignment with IAQG strategy (On-Time and On-Quality Delivery performance)
- Adopt new requirements based on stakeholder needs
- Improve existing requirements where stakeholders identified a need for clarification, including when a documented quality management procedure is required
There are major changes to the AS9100:2009 release that affect how companies implement AS9100 for the first time or upgrade from a previous version of the standard:
- A customer focus on On-Time and On-Quality Delivery performance in the Aerospace, Defense, and Space Industries, which will directly impact the implementation as a whole.
- A significant focus on Planning and Project Management including characteristics flow down
- A significant increased role for risk management and mitigation
- Changes companies need to focus on from ISO 9001:2008
- A major change in the auditing from a “checklist focus” to Performance Auditing from AS9101
Product Quality Risk And The Supply Chain
Product Quality Risk in a supply chain focuses on the quality problems in the supply chain context, rather in the manufacturing quality context.
Inherent quality problems such as. raw materials, ingredients, production, logistics, and packaging, in any of the supply chain members trigger a domino effect that spread through a multi-tier supply network. For this reason, it is hard for a network member to keep track of who did what, and when, to the final quality of the products. The product that a company sells to the consumer comprises components made by the company and its suppliers. When the product breaks down due to defects in either the company’s component or the supplier’s component, the company will have to bear the consequences.
Thus, Product Quality Risk is part of the supply chain risks. In other words, Product Quality Risk tend to comprise some or all the risk elements, such as operational risk, disruption risk, reputational risk.
For many small business owners this process can be painful and hard to implement. There are many quality management consulting firms available to help ease the pain by providing sound programs that will accomplish your risk management objectives.
Assistance in Developing Your Management System. Can the Registrar Provide These Services?
No, your registration company will not provide consulting services. The purpose of 3rd party assessments is to provide your organization with an unbiased, impartial review of your quality management system. If the registrar were to be involved in the development and implementation of your quality management system, impartiality would no longer exist. Additionally, the registrar reviews all auditor activities to ensure that auditors who are also consultants have not been involved in the development and implementation of the QMS scheduled for assessment; this includes not only the audit but decisions related to the client. Most registrars have access to a listing of consultants and are happy to provide you recommendations or references to consultants in your area.
There are consultants that specialize in small business management implementations. These consultants are usually cost effective and will provide a service which will customize your quality management system to meet your individual needs. Always remember to review the credentials of the consultants you select. There are a few questions that you should get answers to before you contact with a business management consultant. Most importantly make sure your consultant has been responsible for managing a quality management system and is certified to the standard they will help you implement.
The ISO Standard Says That Internal Audits Cannot be Completed by Someone Involved in the Activity. How Does a Small Business Meet This Requirement?
An organization that has fewer resources must look to other options, like outsourcing or cross-functional activities, to fulfill internal requirements for audit. There are many individuals and organizations that provide internal audit services to small companies at a fraction of the cost of employing personnel full time. The contracted individual or organization manages the planning process for internal audit based on your established procedures or you can develop the plans for ongoing internal audit. Another option is to train individuals within your organization that can perform internal audits and alternate audit activities between processes. For small companies this is often not possible as people are actively involved in all the processes and activities of the company; therefore, outsourcing is a better option to ensure objectivity.