Good starting point for a new QC Manager? Evaluating Existing Procedures

H

hawkeye

Hello everyone! I have been promoted to the position of QC manager in the pr company for which I work. Quality is a rather large problem here. What I decided to do was to gather up all of the procedures for every department and analyize problem areas. What I found was quite discouraging. The problem is that when a major problem occurs, new procedures are put in place with the intention of preventing further occurances instead of determining what EXISTING procedures have failed and modifying them. As a result of this, I have TONS of written procedures for each department! I mean, I have procedures to follow procedures and more procedures on how to follow more procedures etc...... Here is what I'm thinking of doing. I want to break the company down to individual departments and determine what procedures can still be used and which ones to toss. Then I want to see if any of the procedures need to be modified and I also want to cros check my procedures to see if there are any that apply to more than 1 department. After I have done all of this, I want to put it all together in a single manual to be distributed to each department. What are your thoughts on my methodology? Should I do anything differently? Should this be the first task I take on as a new QC manager? As I stated before, quality is a huge problem here, and top management is looking for ways to combat this problem.

My thoughts are that to get everyone on the same page, procedures need to be in place to give some type of order to each person's responsibilities. Then I can look at and address other quality issues.

Thanks for any comments
 

CarolX

Trusted Information Resource
hawkeye,

First off...congrads on your promotion. Looks like you have some challenging work ahead for you.

I have run into that problem here many times. Everytime we have a MAJOR screw-up, management wants to change the procedure...to which I respond "What's wrong with the one we have already?" The usual response I get is...OH....we screwed up and didn't follow our own procedure.

I think you idea and methodology is sound. You should be able to streamline the procedures in no time.

Lots of luck!!!!

CarolX
 

The Taz!

Quite Involved in Discussions
hawkeye said:
I have been promoted to the position of QC manager in the pr company for which I work.

#1 My condolences. .

hawkeye said:
Quality is a rather large problem here.

#2 "LACK" of quality is the usual problem.

hawkeye said:
What I decided to do was to gather up all of the procedures for every department and analyize problem areas.

#3 From your desertation, Try File 13 first.

Well I tell ya. . .on a more serious note, IMHO, I would map out the processes as YOU see them (Assuming you have been there long enough to know them all) . . . Inputs (Internal and External), Outputs (Internal and External), How's (Procedures), Why's (Internal and External), Criteria (Internal and External), Who's (Internal and External).

Keep it simple and use a visual such as a Ishakawa chart to illustrate the processes. One chart for each process.

Then see where the procedures fit in and overlap.

Then go to the individual depertments and see if you have a fit.

If you try the process approach rather than the department approach, I think you will have a little more luck. This was the topic of a thread yesterday. Being "Process based" instead of "Department based" will make it all simpler.

As for the propogating procedures, look into a good Corrective and Preventive Action training course (8D is a good one). Get a few others trained, and maybe you'll find that you have one or two ROOT CAUSES reeking havoc.

I can blow away the smoke, but if I don't put out the fire, all I've done is move the smoke somewhere else, and made room for more smoke.
 
D

D.Scott

Hawkeye - welcome to the Cove and congratulations on your job. I agree with Carol.

I would like to play devil's advocate here and mention a couple of things I ran into that maybe you can avoid. First, don't criticize the old procedures too loudly unless you are sure the guy who wrote them has long gone. It is best sometimes to just digest them in your melting pot without making comments about them. Second, the hardest thing to implement in any company is change. If possible, don't try to introduce new procedures - fix the current ones. That way the employees don't feel they have to learn a whole new system just because they have a new QM.

Good luck and keep us up to date on how you are doing.

Dave
 
H

hawkeye

Great advice everyone! I'm glad to see that I'm at least on the right path to climbing this mountain! I look forward to tackling this problem and will probably need a lot more advice from all of you on a regular basis! I'm glad I can go somewhere to get answers from people who have faced the same issues I'm facing.

Thanks again!
 
G

gheghe

D.Scott said:
Hawkeye - welcome to the Cove and congratulations on your job. I agree with Carol.

I would like to play devil's advocate here and mention a couple of things I ran into that maybe you can avoid. First, don't criticize the old procedures too loudly unless you are sure the guy who wrote them has long gone. It is best sometimes to just digest them in your melting pot without making comments about them. Second, the hardest thing to implement in any company is change. If possible, don't try to introduce new procedures - fix the current ones. That way the employees don't feel they have to learn a whole new system just because they have a new QM.

Good luck and keep us up to date on how you are doing.

Dave

Congratulations!! Dave is right, its really hard to make HUGE changes in the company. Also, emphasize to them that it's for improvement and not an additional work load.
 

SteelMaiden

Super Moderator
Trusted Information Resource
Hawkeye,

Welcome! One more thing you can try that might help with the changing of the guard. (as posted above, sometimes you need to be careful what changes you make) Pick an area, carefully go through the process as you see it, read and learn as much as you can about the procedures as they are in place right now. then go out to that area, and learn the process from the people that know it. Play dumb, whatever, but get their input and let them tell you what they need and do not need. That way, you are not making sweeping changes that will disgruntle anyone and the folks that should be in charge of making sure that the documentation is correct are.

Good luck, be a member of the team, they'll respect ya for it.
 
R

ralphsulser

Hawkeye...congrats on the promotion.
Remember that procedures never improved quality..people do if they have a desire and need to do so. Positive motivation and teamwork.
Hope you are successful and wish you the best
 

bpritts

Involved - Posts
Hawkeye,
First let me echo others' congrats on your new position.

Second let me echo the comments on the need for careful consideration of
the problem and the peoples' role in it. As Ralph's last post suggests, quality comes from people, not procedures. And your own observation at the top should be proof that procedures by themselves don't get the job done.

Some further guidance on starting a management assignment. In the first few days you are "bulletproof" - the people who put you there can't fire you right away, because it would prove they are fools. So you may want to take some quick, tactical actions. Which ones, you might ask?

Well, if you were in the company before taking this job, you probably have some pet peeves of silly or downright stupid procedures. If you don't know, ask your people for their ideas on obstacles that get in their way. Then eliminate a couple of them (the obstacles, that is... not the people!).

As to a sweeping change, rewriting the QMS, watch and wait for 60 days
or so before signing up for that job. It may well be needed, but you should
have a lot of help to do it, not do it yourself. You'll need to get allies enlisted for the job first. Eliminating the obstacles can help you get the support you will need.

Best of luck!

Brad
 
H

hawkeye

bpritts said:
Hawkeye,
First let me echo others' congrats on your new position.

quality comes from people, not procedures. procedures by themselves don't get the job done.



I agree completely! However, I also feel that before you can change the way people view quality and their role in it, everyone must also know the proper steps to acheiving their objectives. I feel procedures can do that if applied properly
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Top Bottom