Not everyone LOVES doing corrective actions, and that’s an understatement! So why bother? Here are a few good reasons to carry out corrective actions: Corrective actions are one of the building blocks to system improvement. System improvement is required in 11 places in ISO 9001:2015 4.4.1 – Context, QMS requirements: continually improve a quality management […]
Corrective Actions…WIIFM? Read More »
Risk is all around us, all the time! So where does the 10,000 mile journey of ‘risk management’ begin? ISO 31000:2018 has some ideas and can get you started. Managing risk pays many benefits including the enhancement of Organizational Resilience. This includes improved performance from fewer ‘surprises’. This is the first of 4 posts on
Putting Risk In Its Place Read More »
This is a solid set of steps developed by James P. Womack in his book Lean Thinking. He was into the Lean stream very early and has done some great work. He mentions Taiichi Ohno and The Toyota Production System in his work as well. Womack’s 8 steps to get from ‘Thinking’ to ‘Action’: Overcome inertia
From ‘Thinking’ to ‘Action’ Read More »
You bet we can!! When we integrate 2 or more Standards, the time savings start immediately! It takes some work to combine some of the requirements, but the benefits last for the life of the system. Top Management Benefits Management can literally kill multiple birds with one stone. As we go down the list of
Can We Make Improvements Through Integration? Read More »
This is Deming’s 12th point – another great idea that can improve the work environment in any organization! Start with a few questions and see what emerges… Question: Is management REALLY listening? Or are people feeling like no one’s responding? Management Question: Can people improve their own processes? Question: Can people inspect their own work?
Promote Pride in People Read More »
Waiting until the end of your production cycle to do inspections is a recipe for disaster. By then, it’s too late. You have time and money invested by this point and it’s important to get a return on your investment. It makes more business sense to build checks in along the way. Better yet, design
Stop depending on final inspections! Read More »
The short answer is, of course, “Never!”. Unless we have a proprietary solution to a global problem and no competitors, we always need to be fine tuning our processes to survive in a world of razor thin margins. And we’re not just talking about improving processes to make more profit. If we make the working
When can we stop improving? Read More »
Errors or non-conformances cost us big time, but most organizations don’t realize it. Not only are there hard costs, but there are many hidden costs that add up to reduced profits – logging the issue, containing it, deciding on a cause, implementing a solution, checking it for effectiveness and reviewing risk management to see if
Errors? Who Cares?!? Read More »
This topic has been batted around for over 30 years, since the first version of ISO 9001 was released. For organizations that like LOTS of documentation these words open up a whole world of possibilities for mountains of documents. The fact of the matter is, ISO allows for any type and amount of documented information.
Process vs Procedure – the battle continues! Read More »
We need to focus on our users when we’re designing and improving our management systems. This may seem obvious, but you’d be amazed at how many times a client will ask, “Will the auditor accept this?”. Of course we want to get certified, but if we are sure of the requirements and decide what we
Whose Management System is it, anyway? Read More »
