Continuous Improvement Opportunities Program (CIOP) required within each work group?

[Scott]

Hi All,


Currently I have a Continuous Improvement Opportunities Program (CIOP) that is open to everyone that encourages 100% participation to identify and suggest improvements, expedites Corrective and Preventive Actions, facilitates communication and encourages creative problem solving.

It is initiated by an employee filling out a form with a suggestion. Top Management reviews all inputs and we track them through to closure. I believe we have met all aspects of the standards.

My problem is once again our auditor says we should also have an "internal" CIOP program within each work-group. This is to handle the daily things that come up at the lowest possible level. He wants all inputs documented and tracked through closure as well.

Of course, most internal suggestions are handled via email and decided by the supervisor. How much documentation does suggesting a new stamp need?

Does anyone see a need for seperate programs? Is there an interpration of the standard I am missing?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[SteelMaiden]

Oh man! Document each and every "on the fly" improvement? I think that the standard says something about "appropriate to the effects of the potential problems" If it is a serious potential problem, will take serious planning and effort to implement, or take a serious cash outlay to implement, yeah go ahead and formalize it. Otherwise, it is not value added. Next this person will want you to document why you switched brands of toilet paper in the rest rooms.

I have used the suggestion box thing in the past and never had a problem. We just documented the suggestions, if they were accepted or rejected, and if we formalized the issue in the corrective/prevent action system or just sent the janitor over to the local hardware store in the minutes of our team meetings.

 

[Greg Maggard]

Mgt. We call those box type program "BITCH BOXES".
Some times it takes a little complaining to get things done and you need to go through the vinager and hasel to get to the honey.

Research the "Kaizen Programs", they seem to really work if implemented properly...... (Follow-up and Follow-thru)

 

[M Greenaway]

I should ask your auditor to point out exactly where it says you have to have internal CIOP programmes.

When he cannot show you, tell him to stick to the facts !

 

[HFowler]

I think that if your Continuous Improvement Opportunity Program "encourages 100% participation", then the auditor is wanting to see how. Sometimes only the outspoken will participate in large groups and the quieter people will not participate because, to them, their contribution may seem insignificant to the "big picture".

Of the course the auditor can't require that you have a CIOP internal to each work group. He/She is just looking to ensure that you are getting the participation you expect.

Best Regards,
Hank Fowler

 

[HFowler]

Hi Kempsw,

I think a Continual Improvement Program should include:
- Quality Objectives,
- Corrective and Preventive Actions,
- Internal Audits,
- Review of Customer Satisfaction Surveys,
- Production meetings producing improvement actions, as well as
- Actions initiated by suggestion programs.

I hope our comments provide you with some helpful advice.

Best Regards,
Hank Fowler

 

[Greg Maggard]

I have a Kaizen Slide show If anyone is interested in viewing. I can email it. Let me know by e-mail. This is just an intro. In a previous thread I gave some book names. This is the same program that helped Toyota Increase their profits 82% this last year. "Damn", a proven system for the taking

 

[Scott]

ISO AUDITORS

Thanks for all of your input on this thread, it was helpful, (so the site is working).

I have been able to convince my management that we will hold off creating a new internal section CIOP program for now. We will discuss this with the auditor next time around if he still see's a problem. Since the objective is to ensure the standard is met we should be OK. If the auditor is concerned about everyone participating and the quiet one being left out I wonder what he must see in factories, especially in Asia? Equality and voluntary input are not exactly traits found throughout the world. After reviewing all of your input we are already doing most of these things where the reviews are happening with good, creative action coming out of them. We keep consistent records of the meetings as well so we will see what happens. I will address the ones we can do better on in the weeks to come.

Thanks again for all of your input.

 

[Paul Simpson]

Continuous vs. Continual

Firstly your auditor is wrong to insist on documenting all of the elements of your CIOP. Under IOS 9001.2000 you must have a documented procedure for Corrective and Preventive action. You must also have a Continual Improvement Programme. How you go about managing the latter is up to you. You must have direction form Top Management and you must be communicating internally on Quality / Continual Improvement.

Keep up the good work on CI with employee involvement. The biggies relating to core processes and product quality are covered by documented procedures (and hopefully tracked and managed) the rest is the small steps that improve the way the organization does business.

 

[gpainter]

Continuous improvement is done on a daily basis.
Continual Improvement is based on the PDCA cycle