Archive for September, 2009
What Must An Organization Do To Have An EMS That Meets The ISO 14001 standard?
The ISO 14001 standard requires that an organization put in place and implement a series of practices and procedures that, when taken together, result in an environmental management system. ISO 14001 is not a technical standard and as such does not in any way replace technical requirements embodied in statutes or regulations. It also does not set prescribed standards of performance for organizations. The major requirements of an EMS under ISO 14001 include:
A policy statement which includes commitments to prevention of pollution, continual improvement of the EMS leading to improvements in overall environmental performance, and compliance with all applicable statutory and regulatory requirements.
- Identification of all aspects of the organization’s activities, products, and services that could have a significant impact on the environment, including those that are not regulated
- Setting performance objectives and targets for the quality management system which link back to the three commitments established in the organization’s policy (i.e. prevention of pollution, continual improvement, and compliance)
- Implementing the EMS to meet these objectives. This includes activities like training of employees, establishing work instructions and practices, and establishing the actual metrics by which the objectives and targets will be measured.
- Establishing a program to periodically audit the operation of the EMS
- Checking and taking corrective and preventive actions when deviations from the EMS occur, including periodically evaluating the organization’s compliance with applicable regulatory requirements.
- Undertaking periodic reviews of the EMS by top management to ensure its continuing performance and making adjustments to it, as necessary.
Software Solutions That Manage ISO 14001 and RC 14001
Managing your environmental program is becoming a major concern today, due to global warming and sweeping environmental legislation. Software applications have been developed to help companies better manage this aspect of the quality management system.
One such software application is, CIS Continuous Improvement Software. CIS software has the necessary tools to manage your environmental program, but it is also, in itself, the environmentally correct choice! By eliminating paper for forms and procedures, it eliminates waste. Furthermore, by driving improvement throughout each process, it also eliminates waste.
Elements of your environmental program such as the environmental aspects and impacts can all be managed using the preventive action module, special requirements and objectives for improvement.
In fact, this software provides excellent template procedures that meet and exceed the requirements of ISO 14001 and RC 14001 for Environmental, health, safety and security to help you fast-track your system! These template procedures are easy to modify to suit your specific needs and they all work with the CIS Continuous Improvement Software.
What better way to start an environmental program than to eliminate paper completely?
Quality Perspective
Quality is a perceptual, conditional and somewhat subjective attribute and may be understood differently by different people. Consumers may focus on the specification quality of a product/service, or how it compares to competitors in the marketplace. Producers might measure the conformance quality, or degree to which the product/service was produced correctly.
There are many definitions and method that have been created to assist in managing the quality-that can have an effect on business operations. Many different methods and concepts have developed to improve product or service quality. There are two common quality-related functions within a business, quality assurance and quality control. Quality assurance is the prevention of defects, such as by the deployment of a quality management system. Quality control is the detection of defects, most commonly associated with testing which takes place within a quality management system typically referred to as verification and validation.
It can be said that validation can be expressed by the question “Are you building the right thing?” and verification by “Are you building the thing right?” “Building the right thing” refers back to the user’s needs, while “building it right” confirms that the specifications are correctly implemented by the system. In some situations, it is required to have written requirements for both as well as formal procedures or Practices for determining compliance.
Preventive actions are happening all the time in the business world, but are probably the least documented aspect of the business management process. Just think, how much more an organization could improve if they actually tracked and reviewed these actions. How many more improvements could an organization realize if they only knew how to use this information?
Discusion Please! AS9100C
So let’s talk about this! There are a lot of companies out there right now, who are sitting in a holding pattern waiting for the proverbial shoe to fall, so they can decide how they want to approach this. Some companies are already implementing the new standard, but there is some confusion on what parts of the old standard go away and what new ones replace them.
I think this is a great forum for professionals and laymen alike to discuss different approaches to this subject. If we put our heads together, maybe we can all gain a better perspective of AS9100 C . What is it really going to take to get moving forward and how long before we are all on the same page. The real objective is to improve the quality management system and services of the aerospace community, not make it harder to maintain.
Don’t just read this blog post, be a part of it. Share your comments and concerns.
Costly Mistakes To Be Avoided When Developing Quality Objectives
Let’s face it, a great quality management system cannot exist without clear, measurable and attainable objects designed to promote continuous improvement. When an organization improves it does three important things: reduces costs, improves quality, and continually wows its customers. It is therefore imperative that quality objectives be selected that will accomplish these outcomes. Here are some DON’Ts when you set about developing your objectives:
Don’t use quality objectives simply as a way to fulfill ISO 9001:2008 requirements instead of as a tool for decision making and strategic management
Don’t use objectives that have no link to the mission or quality policy of the organization
Don’t use objectives that are not measurable
Don’t use objectives that aren’t clearly defined-What are you going to do and when will you accomplish it.
Don’t use fluffy, feel-good objectives
Don’t allow Managers or employees to select objectives without guidance and facilitation
Don’t use objectives that put functional areas in competition with one another
Not properly training personnel on the practical meaning of their objectives and how each employee can contribute to their achievement.
If you are unsure how to go about setting clear, measurable and attainable objectives for you quality management system, there are many business management consulting firms that can assist you in getting started in the right direction. Don’t get discouraged if at first you don’t succeed, it takes time and training to really master the technique of developing solid quality objectives that will actually pay off.
The ISO Audit and Compliance to ISO 9001 Certification Requirements
There are two types of auditing that are required, to become registered to the standard: auditing by an external certification body (external audit) and audits by internal staff trained for this process (internal audit). The aim is a continual process of review and assessment, to verify that the system is working as it’s supposed to, find out where it can improve and to correct or prevent problems identified. It is considered healthier for the internal auditor to audit outside their usual management line, so as to bring a degree of independence to their judgments.
Under the 1994 standard, the auditing process could be adequately addressed by performing “compliance auditing”:
- Tell me what you do (describe the business process)
- Show me where it says that (reference the procedure manuals)
- Prove that this is what happened (exhibit evidence in documented records)
How this led to preventive actions was not clear.
The 2000 standard uses the process approach. While the iso internal auditor performs similar functions, they are expected to go beyond mere auditing for rote “compliance” by focusing on risk, status and importance. This means they are expected to make more judgments on what is effective, rather than merely adhering to what is formally prescribed. The difference from the previous standard can be explained as follows:
Under the 1994 version, the question was broadly “Are you doing what the manual says you should be doing?”, whereas under the 2000 version, the question is more “Will this process help you achieve your stated objectives? Is it a good process or is there a way to do it better?”
ISO 9001:2008 only introduces clarifications to the existing requirements of ISO 9001:2000 and some changes intended to improve consistency with ISO 14001:2004. There are no new requirements. A quality management system being upgraded just needs to be checked to see if it is following the clarifications introduced in the amended version.
Planting the Seed for a Successful Business
Exceptional management is at the core of every successful business. When it comes to establishing a hierarchy of employees, it’s important to implement a business process management system. Think of it like a family tree, everything spawns from one source and branches outward as it gradually expands. And like a tree, a business needs proper nourishment to grow.
As you begin to draft your business process management system, try to keep it basic. If your strategy is simple yet strong, like a tree it will blossom at a continual rate. Soon it will grow leaves, which symbolize the customers. And as the years pass the tree will grow, and so will your business.
Business Management software and Document Control
Document management systems can range from a shoebox all the way to a software management system that controls and manages all of the documentation for an organization. There are several common issues that are involved in managing documents, whether the system is an informal, makeshift, paper-based method for one person or if it is a formal, structured, computer enhanced business management software system for many people across multiple offices. Most methods for managing documents address the following areas:
|
||
It’s Time To Get Of The Bench-You Can’t Win If You Don’t Play
I have been a third party registration auditor for some time now, and I see a lot of people on the field who haven’t a clue how to play the game. These people are going through the motions, but will never receive the full benefits of a quality management system such as AS9100 or ISO 9001. Doesn’t it make sense, if someone is making you do something anyway,or you doing it because your competion is, shouldn’t you get something out of it?
Investing in your business management system is the single biggest boost you can give to your organization. If you are ISO 9001 certified or AS9100 certified and you don’t see the benefits, you are doing something wrong! Simply meeting the requirements of the standard is not the point; continuous improvement is what should be driving your system. I don’t know how many times I have walked into a company where all of the internal audits were completed just before I walked in the door, or the management reviews all look the same, (No progress, no improvement, no commitment). If you are doing only the bare minimum, just to get by, you’re wasting your time, money, and resources.
If you are certified, you already have process maps that show you all of your processes and how they connect to one another. Now let’s take these tools and make them work for us. Let’s analyze the data that has been collected, review our customer satisfaction information, resolve non-conformance with a slant on correcting and preventing them from happening again. Let’s set goals and follow through on completing them. Get active in your quality management system and you will see all of the benefits of being the best that you can be, (Lower costs, increased customer satisfaction, improved processes, happy employees, and higher profits).
Business Process Mapping and Your Quality Mnagement System
Business Process Mapping (BPM) is a method for improving a company’s efficiency and quality. The methodology is applicable to any planned activity.
The increasing simplicity, (downsizing), and accountability of all organizations , including public service and government, together with the modern intricacy, infiltration and importance of computer technology, for even very small business organizations, has tended to heighten demand for business process improvement everywhere. This means that Business Process Mapping is possibly more widely important than say Total Quality Management, an earlier efficiency methodology.
Simply put, Business Process Mapping aims to improve business performance by optimizing the efficiency of connecting activities that result in the product or service an organization provides to its customers.
Business Process Mapping techniques are concerned with ‘mapping’ and ‘workflow’ to enable understanding, analysis and positive change. Diagrams – essentially ‘flow diagrams’ – are a central feature of the tactic.
The flow diagram of a Business Process Map represents the total business process for an organization and how each individual process connects with the next. There are many software applications which exist to enable this, but the basic principles of Business Process Mapping can also be applied using a pen and a dinner-napkin or a flip-chart or sticky notes, and in some cases these are still brilliant aids for creating and communicating basic ideas. So choose your methods wisely. Business Process Mapping generally needs support from people to work successfully no matter the methods used.