Archive for the ‘Business Organization’ Category
ISO 9001/AS9100 Who Owns Your System?
ISO 9001:2008 requires top management to actively participate in their organization’s quality management system by developing and implementing quality objectives and periodically evaluating the health of the system. This concept may seam foreign to some top managers, as some organizations still subscribe to the notion that the management of their quality system belong to the quality manager. As a lead quality management systems auditor I have seen this time and time again, often with bad news for those at the top. Without the ongoing participation and commitment from top management, it is virtually impossible to maintain a quality system that consistently meets the ISO 9001 standard or any other standard for that matter.
Top management must be involved at all stages of the quality system, from planning to implementation and ongoing maintenance. Some key areas where management should be involved are as follows:
- Setting Quality policies, planning, and objectives
- Appointing a Management representative and giving them the authority to fulfill their job responsibilities.
- Conducting Management Reviews that involve all of the required inputs and outputs of the QMS and making decisions that will promote continuous improvement.
- Enlisting and Utilizing customer feedback to meet customer satisfaction requirements
- Being visibly involved so that employees know that this is a business management system that is being driven from the top down.
What is most important is that “everyone” is involved with your quality management system, and realizing that no one person in the organization owns it, “everyone” owns it. Everyone must do their part, or as sure as I’m sitting here, the quality system will never deliver the results that is expected. When I hear someone say that ISO 9001 is just another expense, (No Benefit), to be endured for the sake of the customer, I know that these companies do not understand the overall commitment, (Involvement), required to receive any benefit. What type of company do you work for?
ISO 9001: Management Review What’s It All About?
Section 5.6 if the ISO 9001:2008 standard requires that top management reviews the organizations quality management system in order to determine its continued suitability, adequacy and effectiveness. There are many ways to satisfy this requirement. Many companies miss interpret this passage to mean they must have a meeting specifically to satisfy this section of the standard. Some companies even go so far as to impose mandatory monthly meeting for this purpose. The standard does not say anything about a meeting, it says you must review the inputs and out puts of your processes at planned intervals.
You must decide how often it is necessary to carry out the review of the required inputs and outputs and how you will review them. You can have several meeting during a given time period during which you address one or more of the requirement at each meeting, (production meetings, customer service sales meetings, quality MRB meetings, annual state of the business meetings, safety meetings, etc). You may decide that top management can satisfy this requirement by individually reviewing the inputs and outputs of the QMS electronically and communicating the results to the organization through action plans to individual departments, group meetings, or supervisor dissemination to the work force. You may decide to go the traditional route and have scheduled management review meetings quarterly or yearly.
The key here is you must decide how and when, and then you must make sure this plan is carried out. When deciding, keep in mind the purpose of this exercise is continual improvement. Don’t invent an elaborate review process that does not add value, make it work for you.
Does Your Corrective Action Process Really Work?
When a deficiency in your quality management system is discovered, is it documented and thought of as a good thing? One of the most common problems I have encountered as a third party auditor and consultant is the fear of Nonconformance’s. During initial presentations to a company, particularly if I have senior management in the room, I will ask about their corrective action process, how it’s working for them and how many nonconformance’s they document in an average month. A typical answer is a very proud indication that they have a great corrective action system and they generate very few nonconformances. That is a self-contradicting statement.
Chances are very good that nonconformances are seen as a bad thing in these companies and the person responsible for this horrible offense is hunted down and profusely reprimanded for such callous offenses. Does this sound familiar?
Let me set those who still feel that nonconformance’s are bad, THEIR NOT! If you find 3 things going wrong within your organization this week, and resolve them so they never happen again, do you think you have improved your company’s performance? Hello McFly, guess what the bonus is – there’s a pretty good chance you will improve your bottom line as well! So get out there and find as many nonconformances as you can. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Remember, the whole idea is to continually improve your products and processes so that you can compete and grow.
How Much Will It Cost To Become Certified To ISO 9001?
Good question, unfortunately, there is no simple answer. How much it costs depends on a lot of factors. It depends on how long you take to develop your quality management system, how many people are involved, whether you hire outside consultants or not, and how much your registrar charges.
So instead of trying to give a simple answer, let’s try to construct your own answer. One approach is to start with a Gap Analysis if you have already developed a QMS. A Gap Analysis will tell you what steps you need to take to upgrade or develop your quality management system (QMS). Once you know what needs to be done, you can figure out how long the work should take, who should do it, and how much it should cost. With this kind of information, you can plan your system development project and prepare a budget.
A good business management consulting firm can help organize and prepare an organization for ISO 9001 certification. There are many options and price structures available today, but you will need to determine what is right for your organization based on your size and culture. The more you do for yourself, the lower the upfront costs can potentially be. But unless you have someone who understands the standard and can implement it, you may end up spending more than you bargained for.
Obstacles to Sustained Success
What makes a company successful? Is it better leaders? Better products? Better salespeople? What about a better business management system? Any of the above may bring some improvement, but most often sustained top performance can be coupled with one thing; how well people communicate within a company.
In particular, sustained success requires a culture in which open and honest dialogue occurs around even the thorniest topics.
This requires focusing on the issues, not playing political games. It also requires determining the potential consequences of all the solutions uncovered.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that ignoring problems makes them worse, not better. What prevents problems from being dealt with? Leaders who never learned to facilitate conflict; aggressive personalities who use intimidation to maintain the status quo; and apprehensive leaders who focus on maintaining control, instead of doing what’s good for the company.
When open and objective discussion is missing, so is the possibility for sustained success.
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.
Keeping it Organized
Attention entrepreneurs! When starting your own business it’s important to establish certain key elements that serve as the foundation, guaranteeing success. Of these facets, business organization is of the utmost importance. Maintaining a well-oiled and structurally sound business will ensure accuracy in all other segments of the company.
Whether your plan is to open a small boutique or build a large-scale paper chain, implementing business organization will provide an efficient and functional environment for your workers. It’s no surprise that co-workers who receive precise direction from the management produce such accuracy in their own actions. When a business has established a top-notch degree of efficiency, its customers are always pleased. And happy customers are the key to a successful business.
ISO 9004 Long Term Success
The sustained success of an organization is the result of its ability to achieve and maintain its objectives in the long-term. The achievement of sustained success for any organization is a complex and demanding challenge in an ever-changing environment.
Sustained success can be achieved:
- By meeting the needs and expectations of your customers
- By the effective management of your organization
- Through awareness of your organization’s environment
- By learning and improving.
ISO 9004 will provide your organization with guidance and support to achieve sustained success by a quality management approach. It can be used by any organization, regardless of size, type and activity.
ISO 9004 promotes self-assessment as an important tool for the review of the maturity level of your organization. It covers leadership, strategy, management system, resources and processes, to identify areas of strength and weakness and opportunities for improvements and innovations.