How do you decide what is a Process, a Procedure or Work Instruction?

[gener]

Hi,

Just want to ask what is the standard size of paper to use for the manual?

gener

 

[JaneB]

Just want to ask what is the standard size of paper to use for the manual?

Gener,
Use whatever you like.

There is no 'standard size'. Nor in fact does it have to be paper that you use - many highly effective 'manuals' are delivered electronically, eg, intranet, internet, wikis and so forth.

 

[jadejes]

Hi ms.jane,
I think you can help me on this matter, i am having trouble on constructing procedures and work instructions in our organization, here are few questions that bother me so much:
1) how do we classify the 6 mandatory ISO requirements?...at present we clasify them as procedure manuals aside from the quality manual that has been established
2) when do we decide if a process is going to be treated as work instruction or procedure?....at present all actvities or processes involved within the organization are treated as work instructions.
3) and lastly, what is the best way to construct work instruction and procedure?

I will appreciate your response on this matter.
Thank you in advance!

 

[amit_rd]

Dear Jade,

Sorry for jumping in as you asked somebody else for help......I am just trying to share my experience:

1) All mandatory procedures can be defined separately with a reference in the Quality Manual or can also be defined within Quality Manual, the call is entirely yours.

2) Process - Procedure and Work Instruction: Lets take an example of recruitment process. A recruitment process consists of several steps, now if I ask somebody to show me the recruitment process of his/her organization, what will he/she do? Will he/she take me through the entire recruitment process (physically)..... NO they will show me a documented demonstration of how they process recruitment...This is called as procedure....So in easy words description of a process utilizing some tools like flowchart to demonstrate its steps and interaction is called as a procedure.
Now I come to Work Instruction, In the same recruitment process there will be several steps, not all need a work instruction but there may be a few steps which need a more user friendly and easy description ( preferably with Visual aids) this we will call as a work instruction.

So in easy words, A procedure is what describes a process (all steps with their interaction) whereas a work instruction describes only a specific step or point of use!

Please forgive me if this too simple example offends you, my only intention was make it simple.

 

[jadejes]

Hi sir Amit,
Nope sir! don't beg for forgiveness it is my pleasure to hear from you and to anyone else who could contribute to my post, i found this forum very interesting and knowledgeable. Thanks for what you shared..I am just a newly appointed QMR within the organization and no experience as MR, but i have knowledge on ISO requirements, i came from different ISO approach (from my old company), the current approach of my new company now is entirely different. I am a little bit confused since the structures of the procedures are different from before..like I said, all processes involved within the organization (all departments) were treated as work instructions, as i assess, the structure is supposedly treated as procedure since all are answerable by who, where, why, and when as i have read from other threads/posts in this forum. So is it important that i will be directing the organisation for a change? Examples for the work instructions are export orders, local orders, purchasing process.....these seems to be treated as procedures...Sir, hope you could lead me to the right direction since we are currently in the process of reviewing and revising documents. Hope to learn more from you!
Thanks so much!

 

[Helmut Jilling]

... I am a little bit confused since the structures of the procedures are different from before..like I said, all processes involved within the organization (all departments) were treated as work instructions, as i assess, the structure is supposedly treated as procedure since all are answerable by who, where, why, and when as i have read from other threads/posts in this forum. So is it important that i will be directing the organisation for a change? Examples for the work instructions are export orders, local orders, purchasing process.....these seems to be treated as procedures...Sir, hope you could lead me to the right direction since we are currently in the process of reviewing and revising documents. Hope to learn more from you!
Thanks so much!

I would recommend that you stop the project to "revise docuemnts..." for a short while. As you said, you are new and confused. So before you revise anything, let's take a few steps.

The strategy behind ISO is to "PLAN," then "DO," (PDCA).

1. Don't revise before you make a plan. Don't make a plan before you learn a little more. This Elsmar forum is a great place to learn. Research, read, learn what other people are doing. There will be plenty of time to revise, once you have a clear "understanding."

2. Forget about work instructions, procedures, manuals...those are just words. They all describe documents. Documents that provide instructional information. Your focus should be on processes first (cl 4.1). That is why the standards begins with processes, before procedures and documents.

Make sure your processes are clear, logical...do they describe your company? Are you missing any? Organize them into the appropriate sequence. Do some research here about processes (not procedures).

Processes are the functions and activities your company does. Procedures and work instructions merely describe those processes, and what is to be done.

When you and your management team is satisfied with how the processes are organized, then make one document for each process. If you have 17 processes, make 17 procedures. These procedures can be in any format, and should contain any information that you want to say about that particular process.

Then, if there is real secific detail you want to say about a specific part of a process, then make and add a specific work instruction.

When you finish, you will have one procedure for each process, plus some specific work instructions where you felt it was necessary.

This structure should be sufficient for any normal sized company. It is more streamlined than the classic approach, but if done correctly, would be more clear for your employees and fully compliant. Large, global corporations might want to have a corporate layer, and this format may be too simple for them.

 

[jadejes]

Sir Helmut Jilling,
thanks so much for the great advise! I would like to learn more from you....yes i found this forum very informative.
Till then...

 

[QAMTY]

Proud liberal
regarding your comment as shown below:

A PROCEDURE details processes that cross departmental lines (requires approval from more than one manager / supervisor)

Well, in this case if there are several responsibles, who´s the owner of the process?

In the procedures, who will appear as the owner or who will sign it?

Thanks

 

[Pancho]

Proud liberal
regarding your comment as shown below:

A PROCEDURE details processes that cross departmental lines (requires approval from more than one manager / supervisor)

Well, in this case if there are several responsibles, who´s the owner of the process?

In the procedures, who will appear as the owner or who will sign it?

Thanks

Hi QAMTY,

The whole point of the process approach is to do away with the "silos" of responsibility that departmental thinking creates.

For example, lets say you have a Sales Process that calls for some pre-engineering work. The pre-engineering work is done by engineers working for the engineering department. The owner of the Sales Process is more naturally the Sales Manager, because the pre-engineering work is a small part of the whole process. But what happens when all engineers are busy working on the Contracts Engineering Process? Can the Engineering Manager withhold his engineers from doing the Sales Process work that is required? In a departmental view of the organization that is what happens.

With the process approach and a good improvement system, the conflict is resolved for good soon after it first appears. Managers work together to resolve these conflicts. Maybe an instruction is written on how to prioritize the engineer's tasks. Such instruction would obviously include those tasks required by the named Sales Process.

I don't think that a procedure that crosses departmental lines should necessarily require approval from more than one manager or supervisor, and it doesn't matter too much who you appoint as process owner. You can appoint as process owner the manager that has most influence on the process, or the one that uses the end-product, or the boss of the several managers involved. The point is that with the process approach, managers realize that they are working towards a common good. And with a good system, the wrinkles will be ironed out with Continuous Improvement.

Good luck!
Pancho

 

[TheFletch77]

Just a quick Question regarding the review of procedures, do they need to be periodically reviewed and if so what is the specified period for ISO 9001:2008

Thanks