QIC Guru

The main purpose of implementing an ISO 9001 system is to improve a process, eliminate waste, save money and ensure that the company will be a contender in future markets. Every process in a company should have a measurement that shows if it is effective and/or met the desired result (the plan). The best platform to improve a process is when the quality policy and measurable objectives are defined clearly, and communicated clearly throughout an organization.

In many instances, a company will not be able to find a way to measure the effectiveness of a certain process or understand how it feeds into overall goals and objectives. In these instances one must further investigate what is the purpose of this process and if it should be eliminated or modified to satisfy the company’s objectives—the why and what if questions.

Some business process reengineering steps are extremely difficult to measure and define, such as a process required to meet a safety requirement, regulatory requirement or customer requirement. It also is important to include the performance indicators of processes so that when an action is taken (corrective or preventive) the effectiveness of those actions can be measured. The most effective method to measure effectiveness is to measure and track costs. This includes cost of nonconformity so when problems are corrected and processes improved, cost savings can be measured.