Do You Consider Your Quality Policy Valuable to your Organization? (Poll)

How valuable and well communicated is your organization's Quality Policy?

  • It's not valuable at all; we only have it to satisfy the ISO requirement and we haven't really commu

    Votes: 3 13.0%
  • It's not valuable at all, but we have made an honest attempt at communicating to the rest of the org

    Votes: 11 47.8%
  • It's somewhat valuable. (Please explain.)

    Votes: 5 21.7%
  • It's highly valuable; the organization rallies around it and leverages it. (Please explain.)

    Votes: 3 13.0%
  • Other (Please explain.)

    Votes: 1 4.3%

  • Total voters
    23
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D

David Hartman

#12
Craig H. said:
It seems to me that under the new standard the Mission statement and the quality policy not only could be the same document - they should be the same document.

JMHO

Craig
Once again it comes back to the fact that the word "quality" shouldn't even be in the standard. Treat the standard as a "business" standard then when the ISO Assessor questions where (or what) your "Quality" policy is point them to your current mission statement (Why re-create it under a different title? It's your system.).

According to Tom Peter's a couple of the best managed companies in the world (W.L. Gore and Nordstrom's) don't have reams of documented procedures [and although I'm not positive, they may not even be ISO-certified], but they ensure that every employee understands the company mission and the need for customer satisfaction. The result is that whenever an employee is faced with an off-the-wall situation, they react in a fashion that ensures both that the customer is satisfied and that the company mission accomplished. Isn't this really the direction that ISO 9001:2000 is attempting to direct us?
 
C

Craig H.

#13
David:

Yes, I agree. Maybe part of the problem is that Quality is still seen by many as a cost, and one for which it is hard to tell if it is really "value added" or just a necessary expense like a business license. We quality types are responsible for this because we, generally speaking (there are exceptions), have failed to talk in a language that is understood in the boardroom.

Combining the mission statement with the quality policy, AND calling it the mission statement (great idea, btw) might just make all of this quality stuff easier to swallow.

Of course, having a mission statement that is hidden away in a book somewhere is of little use. The examples you cite have made theirs an integral part of the way they conduct business. Its kind of like any other tool, a lot depends on how (or if) its used.

Craig
 
R

Randy Stewart

#14
Any time you mention the quality, executive management thinks "OVERHEAD".

Policy

We will meet and surpass the requirements and expectations of our customers as their supplier, our people as their employer, our suppliers as their customer, and our communities as their neighbor.
(They already had this when I got here and even then the VP was asking for other ideas)

Mission

mission and goals amplify the policy statement:

Customers: We strive to understand our customers and their businesses. We must recognize the value they place on each element of the products and services we offer, and continually improve that value.

Employees: We strive to provide safe working conditions, promote teamwork, involvement and empowerment, and provide an atmosphere which encourages creativity and raises motivation. Our people provide our intelligence and culture, and determine our integrity and reputation.

Suppliers: We strive to understand our suppliers and their needs. We must help them .understand the value we place on each element of the products and services they offer, and through partnership, continually improve that value to better serve our customers.

Community: We strive to be sensitive to our neighbors. We must provide safe products, and use environmentally sound and healthy processes and facilities. We must be conscious of how we affect our surroundings, and strive to be a positive asset to the community.

We've been trying to get "there" for years now. It's been a long battle but we're moving forward. One huge step was getting the systems integrated (5S, Hoshin, CI, FTQ, etc.). With the integration came the Business Operations name and the quality tag wasn't seen anymore.
 
C

Craig H.

#15
Randy:

It looks like we are finally going to move towards more integration, as well. How did you start and where, if I may ask?

Using the idea that it is a good idea to go for the low hanging fruit first, I have suggested that one of the first things we should try is reorganizing our procedures and get ALL of them on an intranet. That way we will get an idea of how we should go about setting up security and also find out where we need more linked computers.

Anyway, I like seeing where you started and where you are now as far as a policy/statement go. That approach sure makes more sense, and losing the word "Quality" should help acceptance. Who cares what they call it, anyhow, as long as it gets done?

Craig
 
Last edited by a moderator:
M

MiniP

#16
I think we follow our quality policy. Maybe not to the letter but the general idea is implemented at all time and that is to make good products. Not too hard to follow your quality policy if it reflects what you try to do everyday. :)
 
R

Randy Stewart

#17
It looks like we are finally going to move towards more integration, as well. How did you start and where, if I may ask?
What really got the ball rolling was 2 items; initiation of 5S and a successful Safety Committee. Can you see where it's going? Where is the term Quality in those 2 initiatives???

The Safety Committee has complete buy-in from the floor and was able to chop Lost-Time injuries by 66% the first year it became active. Employee policing employee type thing - not management.

The 5S stuff caught on with employees being able to implement changes in their areas of responsibility, i.e. welding carts, tool carts, etc.

I took a look at these programs and charted where the QS & ISO stuff crossed the lines (house keeping, work environment, etc.) and also the 12 Guiding Principles (clean work space, 1 touch placement, etc.). Next came the elimination of Internal Audits and the use of Safety Walkthrus, 5S Walkthrus, Process Reviews, etc.

What I believe was the real breakthrough was the push for PDPD (Process Driven, Product Design). It required us to totally rethink our processes.
 

Randy

Super Moderator
#18
Randy Stewart said:
The Safety Committee has complete buy-in from the floor and was able to chop Lost-Time injuries by 66% the first year it became active. Employee policing employee type thing - not management.
Why was this important to management?

What did they really care?

What information was used to get the buy-in?

What language was used, and why?

*Rethorical questions to promote the flow here. I think I have already answered them in Threads past and Craig H might have missed them. This has come up before.
 
G

Greg B

#19
Craig H. said:
It seems to me that under the new standard the Mission statement and the quality policy not only could be the same document - they should be the same document.

JMHO

Craig
Craig,

I couldn’t agree more. Our mission statement is in our Policy Document and the objectives in the Policy are taken from the statement, however, we also have a Business Plan yet the KPIs within that document are not those of the Policy. :bonk:

I am having a meeting at our head office tomorrow to try and have the Policy and mission statement rewritten to accuratley reflect the principles of the Business Plan. You see, the objectives in the current Policy are NOT achievable or measurable (and are rather touchy feely). The objectives in the Business Plan ARE measurable and all the departments goals and plans are linked directly too them.

Hope this makes sense. :frust:
Greg B
 
C

Craig H.

#20
Greg B said:
Craig,

I couldn’t agree more. Our mission statement is in our Policy Document and the objectives in the Policy are taken from the statement, however, we also have a Business Plan yet the KPIs within that document are not those of the Policy. :bonk:

I am having a meeting at our head office tomorrow to try and have the Policy and mission statement rewritten to accuratley reflect the principles of the Business Plan. You see, the objectives in the current Policy are NOT achievable or measurable (and are rather touchy feely). The objectives in the Business Plan ARE measurable and all the departments goals and plans are linked directly too them.

Hope this makes sense. :frust:
Greg B
Greg:

Yeah, in our current climate, and the way we have grown to meet it, that kinda makes sense. Generally NOT, but I know what you mean.

The basic question is: Do we "do" quality because it is a way to get a nice, framed, certificate, or do we "do" the standard because we make sure we have all of our business bases covered?

Again, who cares what the mission statement or quality policy is called? The "upmost document" should be where all the other stuff comes from. ALL OF IT!! Coming from a small, I suspect it is even more important in a large. Having measurable goals is a very big part. Measurable and achievable (with a stretch).

Greg, make the Business plan objectives your 9001 objectives. Unless you have a really freaky upper management you should be OK. It may require a little rewrite, but make it work for one document. Why run a business coming from 2 (or even more) ways? In "real" life, that would be laughable. Make the "uppers" realize that.

KPIs? If thats what is measured, that is what gets done (quote source unknown by me). If you follow what I have said above, the objectives should flow from the "mission statement" and should be measurable.

Coming from more than one set of "objectives (goals, etc)" boarders on (watch the spelling) Scitzophrenia (bad sp?).

What's bad for humans is even worse for groups of them.

Give them ONE set of goals. Period.

Craig
 
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