Checking my organization's current Quality Policy

[Divij Chandwani]

Hi Guys,
The current quality policy of my organization states the below:

At <<Organization Name>>, we aim at providing our customers with innovative solutions to fully satisfy their requirements in compliance with applicable statuary regulations.
The top management at <<Organization Name>> is committed to realizing our Quality Objectives by establishing, implementing and maintaining an updated Quality Management System which complies with ISO9001:2008 requirements.

At <<Organization Name>>, quality is the driver of our business. Quality is the responsibility of the every employee.

In the last surveillance audit, the auditor informed me that the policy is too generic and needs to be revised. I wanted to ask on this forum how it can be possibly modified.

My company's quality objectives basically revolve around customer satisfaction of clients and delivery of products on time.

Any help on this subject would be highly appreciated.

 

[qusys]

Hi Guys,
The current quality policy of my organization states the below:

At <<Organization Name>>, we aim at providing our customers with innovative solutions to fully satisfy their requirements in compliance with applicable statuary regulations.
The top management at <<Organization Name>> is committed to realizing our Quality Objectives by establishing, implementing and maintaining an updated Quality Management System which complies with ISO9001:2008 requirements.

At <<Organization Name>>, quality is the driver of our business. Quality is the responsibility of the every employee.

In the last surveillance audit, the auditor informed me that the policy is too generic and needs to be revised. I wanted to ask on this forum how it can be possibly modified.

My company's quality objectives basically revolve around customer satisfaction of clients and delivery of products on time.

Any help on this subject would be highly appreciated.

Very difficult to phrase because the verbiage shall be the one of the organization and top mgmt. As a suggestion I can say that I see nothing about the continual improvement pursuing as well as the recognition of importance of the organization people and their involvement in QMS to improve processes and better serve the customer.
Hope this helps

 

[samsung]

At <<Organization Name>>, we aim at providing our customers with innovative solutions to fully satisfy their requirements in compliance with applicable statuary regulations.

In my opinion, to be fully satisfied, the customers might need/ expect more than statutory compliance.

 

[Divij Chandwani]

Thanks for the suggestion 'samsung'.

Do I require the remaining lines in the policy (as mentioned below), or the 1st line in the policy (along with the changes you mentioned) is sufficient:

The top management at <<Organization Name>> is committed to realizing our Quality Objectives by establishing, implementing and maintaining an updated Quality Management System which complies with ISO9001:2008 requirements.

At <<Organization Name>>, quality is the driver of our business. Quality is the responsibility of the every employee.

 

[samsung]

Thanks for the suggestion 'samsung'.

Do I require the remaining lines in the policy (as mentioned below), or the 1st line in the policy (along with the changes you mentioned) is sufficient:

The top management at <<Organization Name>> is committed to realizing our Quality Objectives by establishing, implementing and maintaining an updated Quality Management System which complies with ISO9001:2008 requirements.

At <<Organization Name>>, quality is the driver of our business. Quality is the responsibility of the every employee.

You can also frame it like:
At <<Organization Name>>, we aim at providing our customers with innovative solutions to fully satisfy their requirements in compliance with applicable statuary regulations." while complying with all the applicable statutory & regulatory requirements.........."

Just my thoughts.

 

[harry]

Hi Guys,
The current quality policy of my organization states the below:

At <<Organization Name>>, we aim at providing our customers with innovative solutions to fully satisfy their requirements in compliance with applicable statuary regulations.
The top management at <<Organization Name>> is committed to realizing our Quality Objectives by establishing, implementing and maintaining an updated Quality Management System which complies with ISO9001:2008 requirements.

At <<Organization Name>>, quality is the driver of our business. Quality is the responsibility of the every employee.

In the last surveillance audit, the auditor informed me that the policy is too generic and needs to be revised. I wanted to ask on this forum how it can be possibly modified.

My company's quality objectives basically revolve around customer satisfaction of clients and delivery of products on time.

Any help on this subject would be highly appreciated.

A lot of the verbiage should go into your 'Vision & Mission' statement. The requirements of the standard are in 5.3 a to e. Apart from 5.3b - includes a commitment to comply with requirements and continually improve the effectiveness of the quality management system, you demonstrate compliance to the rest.

Therefore, it is possible to frame a short and simple statement that meets requirements.

 

[aliasJohnQ]

I agree with all of the above, but to be fair to the company, every auditor is different. I had several ISO auditors with one saying to change things up, but the other one saying leave it the way it is.

 

[Randy]

Here's what I'll tell you....Challenge yourself by asking "Can we provide proof that we are meeting every bold claim in our policy?"

Your policy is an auditable document, so if you say that you are or will do something you have to be able to prove it....So prove that you are providing INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS

 

[Divij Chandwani]

Thank you everyone for the prompt responses to my query. It definitely gave me a lot more better clarity on how to modify it, and subsequently prove the quality policy mentioned.

 

[Del Foster]

You might make reference to the term "continual improvement" just to appease some pesky auditors. Considering the definition of quality policy (3.2.4 ISO 9000:2005) it seems to me your policy statement defines the "overall intentions and direction of your organization regarding quality (compliance with requirements) as formally expressed by top management. Where is it expressed by the way?

This overall theme statement is a general commitment to all requirements and seldom needs to change. What is important is how you define specific policy regarding specific requirements and there is where occasional change may be needed.

There is no requirement to state your quality policy in the quality manual according to clause 4.2.2 of ISO 9001:2008 because a nonprescriptive requirements document never defines "how" to do anything. Clause 4.2.2 does not prohibit the use of the quality manual as the primary method for defining this overall policy so what better way to express it than in the qm?

I find it very beneficial for the clients I develop qms documents for to tailor the quality manual such that it is recognized internally as the quality policy manual. The overall theme statement such as yours is defined as the overall policy. This provides the framework for tailoring everything else in the manual in language that defines specific intentions and direction regarding every clause in the standard as well as customer or other interested party specific or unique requirements. As an auditor I find it boring and useless to read a quality manual that is a virtual play back of the standard. I know what the standard says. What I want to know is what are your intentions about every clause in the standard as well as requirements levied on your organization by others. It is organizational policy that is implemented, not clauses of the standard. That is why a preaudit document review can set the stage for understanding when the right information is there.

Your process leaders then implement the stated policy regarding the processes they manage. Your reviews should always ensure methods match policy therefore during management review when policy is evaluated the team can focus on specifics associated with your compliance management system.