I have difficulty in deciding how to formulate the corporate quality policy and objectives.
The following is my approach：
Step 1: Top management shall do a market research to decide in which direction to develop.
Step 2: Top management shall formulate the corporate quality policy.
Step 3: Top management shall detect customer concerns, using (QFD or other tools).
Step 4: Top management shall survey the best performers in the business, establish benchmarks, using the customer concerns found in step 3.
Step 5: Top management shall use the benchmarks and quality policy to establish quality objectives and their measurements, and incorporate them into business plan.
Step 6: Management representative shall decide which processes contribute to which quality objectives, using (FMEA or others)
Step 7: Management representative shall assign quality objectives and their measurements to the processes.
Step 8: Management representative shall collect, analyze data to decide the suitability and adequacy of these quality objectives of the processes。
Step 9: Top management shall collect and analyze the data and decide the suitability and adequacy of the corporate quality objectives.
I wanna see the flaws of my approach. Please advice. Thank you.

Your flaws? Too complicated and too many traps that can lead to failure.

You policy should be a document that clearly states what the intent of the system is....it steers the course that you folks will take. References to what specific people will be required to do, like the management rep are better left said in a procedure or instuction.

If your policy is more than just a couple of lines long nobody will really be able to understand it or care to, including the framers of it.

I agree with Randy - stop for a minute and think about how you measure the success of your company.

For instance: I am in the transportation world, so for us it is important to offer ontime service to our customers, and deliver the product in the condition we picked it up.

So our Objectives (measurable) are things such as:

100% On-time delivery
0 customer Complaints
100% Damage Free Delivery
0 Accidents and Injuries

These are easily communicated and understood at all levels of the organization. In addition, they are continually measured on a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual basis.

Hope this helps!

Thank you.
I think you mean the Quality policy and quality objectives should be as concise and few as possible. Do I get you right?
How about the quality objectives assigned to the department-level? They can’t be so few.
Besides the characteristics of quality policy and quality objective, do you think the general procedure and tools I used to make them good enough?
Our quality objective deployment was given an observation by the accreditation body. I am considering doing something to it.

Hi


I have drafted the following for my Quality Manual. I am struggling with the Objectives piece in particular...for this level of document, are these objectives specific enough? Please comment on the Policy and Objectives and if the objectives are not specific enough, how can you balance the "high levelness" of them without having to constantly change them?


Quality Policy:

General:

Company x is dedicated to providing products and services that consistently meet or exceed the requirements and expectations of our customers through the application of a rigorous Quality Management System
Specifically, Company x commits to:

Customer Focus – We will listen to our customers and provide proactive solutions to their explicit and unstated expectations to enable them to be leaders in their industry. We will accomplish this while balancing the needs of all other stakeholders
Continual Improvement – We will evaluate all areas that are critical to our stakeholders and constantly seek to improve our products, processes and management system.
Mutually Beneficial Supplier Relationships – We will partner with our key suppliers to leverage their knowledge and experience in the pursuit of providing improved performance and advanced solutions so all supply chain members benefit.
Involvement of People – We will hire, motivate, retain, reward and unleash the full potential of all our members.
Factual Approach – We will use data and information from reliable sources and a well developed tool kit in the appropriate context to understand any problems and opportunities and to implement the solutions.
Process and Systems Approach – The ability to produce sustainable results is a direct function of the process(es) that deliver them. To that end, we will look at our business as a set of tightly interconnected processes and provide the solutions that optimize the overall business
Leadership – We will communicate and live by our vision and values for the organization and we will set objectives, measure results and improve performance.



Quality Objectives

Improve our ability to meet customers needs and expectations
Improve our ability to meet the needs of all other stakeholders
Improve the performance of our suppliers in support of customer satisfaction
Improve the defect levels in our products as a function of time
Improve the knowledge and experience of our personnel
Improve the perception of our Company through the eyes of our customers
Improve our Quality System and other processes

Can your people really remember all that you have in your quality policy? I wouldn't want to try to remember all of that, but then again our quality policy is one sentence which basically says we are committed to meeting the customer's expectations through continual improvement of all aspects of our business.

Goals: Again with a lot of really politically correct sounding terms. But what does it all mean? there is nothing there that one can look at and say Yes! I see where you are going with that. My thoughts are that a facility goal is On time delivery (set a goal higher than where you are now). Then each dept that can impact delivery should be doing something within their dept. to ensure the goal is met. Sales - on time delivery - X quantity maximum sales per week (as well as a minimum for the profitability goal:notme:) Production lines: maximum unscheduled downtime X number of hours per week/month (whatever works for you) and so forth and so on.

Just to say you are going to "Improve the perception of our Company through the eyes of our customers" does not mean much. You could send them their products for free and they would perceive you as the best company in the world. Unfortunately, it wouldn't do much for the rest of you.

Make your goals realistic and meaningful, not just a bunch of really official sounding feel good statements. IMHO, you could ruthlessly edit what you have and cut it by about 90% and end up with something that your people can actually sink their teeth into and run with.

I agree with SteelMaiden

my modest opinion for quality objectives: Just say what is the most relavant aspect Your company expect to do and planned for next year. I don't think Your company focused his attention on more then 3 things

Guys,

Good feedback.

That is where I started - really simple....

But if I can engage in dialogue a little more....let me play devil's advocate...

On the Policy piece - is it really meant to be remembered? Isn't it just to refer to a set of values and rules? Is a one-liner really a set of values and rules? Isn't "achieving Customer Satisfaction by improving our processes" really the pinnacle of motherhood and apple pie....

On the objectives....seems to me that the objectives that you describe are lower level objectives....in other words, "uptime on machines" - shouldn't that be a functional objective in Operations based on higher level objectives? Is it really appropriate to get that specific in a corporate document? Would you really write an objective in the Quality manual and update it every time the objective changes - which is frequent in my experience?

Thanks....

<snip> On the Policy piece - is it really meant to be remembered?

No, the policy does not have to be remembered. What's most important is that everyone in the organization can explain (in their own words) what it means to them and how they contribute to make the policy happen.

Isn't it just to refer to a set of values and rules? Is a one-liner really a set of values and rules? Isn't "achieving Customer Satisfaction by improving our processes" really the pinnacle of motherhood and apple pie....

Whatever is most meaningful to your organization and its customers.
I have seen one-liners really capturing the "quality spirit" and long-winded statements containing mostly bullsh*t."

On the objectives....seems to me that the objectives that you describe are lower level objectives....in other words, "uptime on machines" - shouldn't that be a functional objective in Operations based on higher level objectives? Is it really appropriate to get that specific in a corporate document? Would you really write an objective in the Quality Manual and update it every time the objective changes - which is frequent in my experience?

It's good to have a set of (high level) quality objectives pertaining to the overall Quality Management System. With my Clients, we usually develop a limited number; certainly not exceeding 6.

Then, for each of the key processes, additional meaningful objectives are developed. Meaningful means: objective, attainable and measureable. Also, very limited in number. More is not better.

You can always adjust/update if you wish.

The measurements will be the score cards to which the Process Owners (Managers/Supervisors) are held accountable during Management Review.

Just a few of my :2cents: worth.

Thanks....

You're welcome! :agree:

Stijloor.

in order to answer to Mgweeds remarks

How frequent do I change the policy? every Year.

Why high level and low level objectives?
the first justifies the quality manual, the procedures, etc
the second ones the improvement plan

I agree with most post's, keep it simple. Train your employees (6 or 600) to talk to the policy. If "Quality is job 1" or your goal is to WOW the customer, then all employees should be able to speak to what makes it job 1 or what makes up the WOW. If this is accomplished and the matrix supports the talking point(s). You hit it out of the park. IMO.

Hi,

This forum has been a phenominal source of information as I've been developing an ISO 9001 QMS for my company. Thanks!

I have this question: I see many refer to "measurable" objectives as having numbers or percentages associated with them, but does that apply to the very top level objectives one would include in the quality manual?

My company's top objectives are that we want to maximize value to the customer, value to the stakeholders, and value to the employees. It would seem to me that all of those things are measurable (i.e. customer satisfaction, cost-effective production and profit, employee benefits, etc.) and suitable for top level objectives, while lower level objectives should be things that are measurable againsts a reference value (i.e. % on time shipping, % defect, etc.)

I use the search function often, but this answer has eluded me...perhaps the enormous thread lengths cause my eyes to glaze over...:D

Any guidance would be wonderful.

Thanks!
Jim

I have this question: I see many refer to "measurable" objectives as having numbers or percentages associated with them, but does that apply to the very top level objectives one would include in the quality manual?

Hi Jim!

Welcome to The Cove Forums! :bigwave: :bigwave:

Please come back often and tell your colleagues about this great source.

To answer your question: Yes, the top-level objectives can be included in the Quality Manual.

Hope this helps.

Stijloor.

Hi,

I have this question: I see many refer to "measurable" objectives as having numbers or percentages associated with them, but does that apply to the very top level objectives one would include in the quality manual?


...it does...

…what I suggest is to make your objectives as part of your manual index… so you won’t need to amend you manual every time you are going to change or revise your objectives…

Here is ours..


(XXX) is committed to providing world-class quality products and services that meet or exceed customer requirements and expectations. We will direct continuous improvement by measuring our customer and supplier feedback, monitoring key performance metrics, auditing our Quality System, and regularly reviewing our business objectives.

...it does...

…what I suggest is to make your objectives as part of your manual index… so you won’t need to amend you manual every time you are going to change or revise your objectives…

Thanks for you posts.

Ok, so what you are saying is that the top level objectives SHOULD have a reference to measure against (i.e. 100% or zero, etc.), and should not just be something like "Maximize value to the customer, maximize value to the stakeholders," etc.

I guess the thing that trips me up is actually the definition of measurable. Any help?

Thanks

I guess the thing that trips me up is actually the definition of measurable. Any help?

Thanks

Measurable means that you can express performance using actual numbers (variables) instead of ambiguous attributes.

Hard to argue about actual numbers.

Stijloor.

Another suggestion is if your management likes to use short or catchy phrases such as "Total Customer Satisfaction" or "Quality is Job 1", the organization should be able to talk to that point. Your policy does not have to read like a quarterly investors meeting. Example may be: Quality Job 1 means we will deliver product on time (measurable or deliverable objective: on time deliveries), provide quality parts (measurable or deliverable objective:objective reduce scrap pcts). My bottom line is our policy and objectives have to line up, how we line them up is our task.:2cents:

Good luck

We've had this discussion in other threads. Some time ago I posted a matrix that I use to help with this. http://elsmar.com/Forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=7013

Quality Policy - The standard outlines what the Quality Policy shall ensure. Why not have some fun with it and make it a contest within your company. Provide groundrules, list the requirements of the standard, show some typical (rather short) examples of what other companies do, and solicit your people. Create a board of judges from among your ranks and give folks a month or so to come up with some suggestions. Winner gets a flat panel color TV or a Volkswagon etc.

Quality Objectives:

I agree with most of those who responded to your post. Keep them top level, something like this:

- No escapes/field returns
- 100% on time delivery
- 100% customer demo success
- No major audit findings
- No customer complaints
- No lost time accidents


When you build more history with your program you can get more detailed and diverse with your quality objectives.

Thanks to all for your responses.

I'll be working on the quality objectives pretty soon with my bosses, so I'll try and post the results up here for you guys to critique.

Jim