Getting value out of Internal Audits is a constant challenge. Many of our clients found it helpful to change the focus of their audits from ‘Are people following procedures?’ to ‘Find ways to improve our system’. By getting the focus off of ‘Is everyone following our procedures?’ onto ‘Improvement’ two things happen. First, it is […]
Stop looking for non-conformances! Read More »
Years ago I used to deliver training in the stores of a national chain here in Canada. Most of the material was focused on the customer: How to handle difficult customers, How to tell if a customer complaint is legitimate, How to create add-on sales and so on. As you can see, there was a tone
If it weren’t for all these customers, we could get a lot of work done around here! Read More »
“People are are most valuable asset” You’ve heard this a thousand times, maybe more. It’s simply not true. People’s involvement is our most valuable asset. If we don’t tap this vast resource in our organizations, we are missing out on infinite opportunities to improve the effectiveness of our management system (read: make more money or
People are NOT our most valuable asset…Simplify Tip #4 Read More »
Have you ever heard someone say, after a non-conformance has been raised, “Who screwed up?”. The result? Everyone heads for the hills and tries to find someone to blame. People get defensive and the cause of the problem gets buried in accusations. Improvement? Not likely. Prevent it from happening again? A long-shot at best. If
Just Change ONE Question! Read More »
Tip #2 – Make your audits pay: Audit by Objectives Are your Quality Objectives considered when you plan Internal Audits? One of the driving forces in a management system is the need to improve – do it faster, have fewer errors, ship on time. That’s why ISO has us set objectives – to have something
Auditing by Objectives – Make your audits pay! Simplify your System Tip #2 Read More »
Building Block #9 You need to be ready to trade off other values in favour of Quality There’s an anecdotal ‘constraint model’ in the world of Engineering: Quality – Price – Timing: pick any two. By staying focused on ‘errors are unacceptable’ (or at least have a rate of errors we can live with) we
Trade off other Values for Quality?? Read More »
This is the final clause in the ‘All you need to know’ series. The series starts here with clause 4: https://simplifyiso.com/all-you-need-to-know-clause-4-0/ Most of what you have in place for Improvement will work just fine here. The jaw dropper is the removal of ‘Preventive Action’. In all my years since 1992 I can honestly say that
All you need to know – Clause 10: Improvement Read More »
The Toyota Production System (TPS) The TPS is renowned for its focus on reduction of the seven wastes to improve overall customer value. If you haven’t read the originator, Taiichi Ohno’s version, find a copy. (http://www.amazon.com/Toyota-Production-System-Beyond-Large-Scale/dp/0915299143). The 106 pages in this book will provide you with all “you really need to know” about quality and
Toyota Production System Stands the Test of Time Read More »
ISO 9001:2015 Clause 10 – Improvement This Clause is the ‘money maker’ for any organization – improvement = profits! Since the 2015 version of ISO 9001 has removed specific requirements for a procedure for ‘Preventive Action’, Clause 10 places increased importance on an organization to be proactive and prevent non-conformances rather than waiting for a problem
If we’re not getting better, it feels like it’s getting worse… Read More »
Preventing recurrence in the past has always been about ‘eliminating the cause of the non-conformance. This always pays off, not just in improving profits, but improving morale as well. Nobody feels good at work waiting for the same problem to repeat itself because we didn’t eliminate the cause. These notes appeared in the ISO 9001
Corrective Actions – preventing recurrence pays off Read More »
