QE Bob said:
I am in a discussion with different parties on how we address these two elements in the standard. One opinion is that they are both relatively the same and that preventive action can follow corrective action and so their use of common means to achieve either is acceptable. The other thought is preventive is not part of corrective action because the standard references pre-considerations in section 8.5.3. Because of wording such as "eliminate the causes of potential nonconformities" and "prevent their occurrence" it means consider the possibility of non-conformances. Any ideas or thoughts on this?
Just one way to see it:
Once you decide to implant the International standart through your organization you may will be ready to find a lot of situations that increase the likelyhood of process/product deviation. It is not a matter of your company is wrong, No. Your business is going well and profits are presen at the end of the balance. Beside this you are changing the way to see or measure your processes. That is why something will be determined as a Out of Control or risky. This facts will define your GAP between your reality and the new standard. This GAP may be closed or narrowed as much as you can to satisfy the Standard. The tool to accomplish this task is Corrective Action procedure.
Once you have your GAP closed and your QMS running, continuos improvement (Which is the soul of the new standard you are using) methods will give to your organisation the power to interprete variable trends and if you see something wrong :mg: (You are not achieving some target along three consecutive months or if you keep doing what are doing you sill not reach cost goals) you may want to do something to prevent the caotic situation and correct the trend. This is a Preventive Action.
I hope you can understand my rough English. HAVE A GOOD ONE!
