Posts Tagged ‘continuous improvement’
What Happens Now That I Have My Certification?
At last we have attained certification, boy am I glad that is over. If this is what you are thinking right now, you have missed the point. Certification to ISO 9001, AS 9100 or any standard does not have a start and end point, (Implementation and Certification). Becoming certified is a continuous process which if implemented and attained correctly, with the right mind set, will result in lowering costs, and ongoing improvements for your business.
Never think that once you have reached your goal of certification that you are finished, now the hard part begins. Now you must live your quality management system day in and day out. Your processes must continue to be audited and improved, tracked and reviewed, trained and understood by all. This is your chance to reap the rewords of your planning, doing, checking and improving to become a world class organization and not just a another company with a certificate on the wall.
If you truly want to get the most out of the money and time spent to get that certificate, I suggest that you focus your attention on maintaining your system to reach peak performance. You will save money, improve relations with your customers, and knock the socks off of your competition. So why not take this certification and make it work for you?
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
Seven Steps To Implentation of ISO 9001
For a successful implementation of your Quality Management System, the following seven steps are recommended:
- Fully engage top management – Determine and define why you want to implement ISO 9001, Determine and define your mission, vision, and values in your organization , Define your organization’s stakeholders : customers, suppliers, stockholders, employees, society, etc., Define your quality policy, and , Define and align organizational objectives and related product/service quality objectives.
- Identify key processes and the interactions needed to meet quality objectives
- Implement and manage the QMS and its processes (using process management techniques
- Build ISO 9001-based QMS-Identify ISO 9001 requirements, Map these requirements with your implemented QMS, where applicable, Make a gap analysis : identify where in your existing system the requirements are fulfilled, and where they are not, Include in your QMS processes the activities, procedures and controls needed.
- Implement the system, train company staff and verify effective operation of your processes
- Manage your QMS- Focus on customer satisfaction, Monitor and measure the operation of your QMS, Strive for continual improvement, Consider implementing business excellence models in the company operations.
- If necessary, seek third party certification/registration of the QMS or alternatively, issue a self-declaration of conformity
HOW DO I ANSWER AN AS9100 AUDITOR’S QUESTIONS?
I am a third party AS9100 auditor, (your registrar’s auditor). In my experience, I have seen a lot of apprehension while auditing. The whole purpose for auditing a quality management system is to improve the overall organization so that it can compete more successfully. The auditor is not looking for faults in a system; they are looking for compliance to the standard. If a non-conformance is found, it should be viewed as and opportunity to improve, not as a reason to reprimand. The best advice for answering an auditor’s questions is … just be polite and honest. In general, the auditor is not out to trick or deceive you, so you should return the favor. Here are a few more tips you should know when talking to auditors:
• When talking to an internal auditor, you should feel free to offer any information on the subject being tackled that you feel is important, even if it’s not specifically asked for. Your internal auditors are there to help improve the system for everyone. Don’t be afraid to ask the internal auditor a question or ask for advice.
• When talking to a third-party auditor, you should still be honest, but only answer their question. There is no need to volunteer information with third-party auditors.
• Never lie to an auditor… They often know the right answer before they ask the question.
• Answer the auditor’s question directly and with confidence when you know the answer. If you don’t feel very confident about answering a question, you can:
• Tell the auditor you don’t understand the question, and ask him or her to restate it.
• Take the time to find the answer in your area’s quality procedures or work instructions. (Remember, that’s what they’re there for!)
• Ask someone else, such as your manager, for help in answering the question (especially if you feel the question falls outside your
job responsibilities). Remember that the auditors want you to succeed. They are not “out to get you.”
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?
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).
Preventive Action “What If”?
Many organizations struggle with how to determine what constitutes a preventive action. To determine what should trigger a Preventive Action investigation, ask the question “What If”.
- What if weI only have one piece of equipment?
- What If we only have one set of tools for a critical process?
- What if we only have one person with the skills to do a certain process?
- What if one of our key suppliers goes out of business or is destroyed by a natural disaster?
Any of these criteria may point you to a potential opportunity for a preventive action. When investigating a preventive action it is important to identify all the risks and costs of having the problem and weigh it against the likelihood of it happening. The benefit to the process and or company if you were to implement the improvement and the legal and ethical reasons for implementing the action regardless of the cost or potential benefit should always be considered prior to implementation. ISO 9001 software and as9100 software packages can aid you in collecting and evalateing this information you gateher from this prcess.
Auditing and Continual Improvement
The most important part of the audit is not what the auditor does in collecting the data, but what the manager does with the audit information. Managers must be prepared to take actions to correct audit finding and to recognize excellence. The actions taken to make improvements must not make the situation worse. The best approach is to meet with the people involved in the finding and ask for their ideas for improving the situation and to empower them to solve the problem. This allows them to assume ownership for the problem and for the solution. The manager must then seek commitment from people to resolve the problem within a certain time frame and make resources available to support improvements, if necessary.
The worst possible scenario is for managers to use audit information to punish people. Management must drive fear out of the organization. Punishing people will condition the organization to resist audits and hide problems from management. The manager must learn to receive bad news from an audit as an opportunity for improvement and then involve staff members in resolving the issue. Often the audit will bring to light performance problems that can be solved only by upper management. Although management alone has the authority to change the system, management can usually invite the people who work in the system to help diagnose the problem, make recommendations, and implement solutions for resolving the problem.
Successful organizations are those that learn to place a high value on continuous improvement. Everyone in the organization, from the managers in the strategic center to the individual contributors, must all share a belief in the positive discussion of problems and deficiencies as a necessary first step in achieving excellence.
What Is Root Cause Analysis?
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 predicated 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 actions 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 intervention 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 proficiency 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.
Root cause analysis is not a single, sharply defined methodology; there are many different tools, processes, and philosophies of root cause analysis in existence. However, most of these can be classed into five, very-broadly defined “schools” that are named here by their basic fields of origin: safety-based, production-based, process-based, failure-based, and systems-based.
- Safety-based root cause analysis is derived from the fields of accident analysis and occupational safety and health.
- Production-based root cause analysis has its origins in the field of quality control for industrial manufacturing.
- Process-based root cause analysis is basically a follow-on to production-based root cause analysis, but with a scope that has been expanded to include business processes.
- Failure-based root cause analysis is rooted in the practice of failure analysis as employed in engineering and maintenance.
- Systems-based root cause analysis has surfaced as an merger of the preceding schools, along with ideas taken from fields such as change management, risk management, and systems analysis.
Despite the seeming differences in purpose and definition among the various schools of root cause analysis, there are some general principles that could be considered as universal. Similarly, it is possible to define a general process for performing root cause analysis.