QMS Training - Purchasing Process - Seeking suggestions and comments

P

piney

Our purchasing department has undergone restructuring recently with several new (green) buyers added. It was determined during our most recent internal audit that this area of the company was in dire need of some form of ISO 9001:2000 QMS training to keep us on track.

Are there available training presentations out there which I could use as the basis for our own? What we are looking for is a training session covering the basics of quality management systems, with a focus on the purchasing process.

Thank you in advance.
 
R

ralphsulser

There are tons of trainers for ISO9001, some are frequent commentators on this site. Like Randy, Sidney, Dave, Vanputten, Hjilling, etc. sorry if missed others.Search around and send them private e-mails to get their specific info
 
Marc

Marc

Fully vaccinated are you?
Leader
piney said:
It was determined during our most recent internal audit that this area of the company was in dire need of some form of ISO 9001:2000 QMS training to keep us on track.
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Training because they don't know your company's procedures or because purchasing's procedures are not ISO 9001 'compliant'? Could you be more specific?
 
Wes Bucey

Wes Bucey

Prophet of Profit
Yes! Marc makes an interesting point. What is there about current operation that makes you think it needs some ISO 9001:2000 input versus some plain old common sense?

In my experience, Purchasing functions tend to get fouled up in one of two major directions:
  1. There are no Procedures - essentially Purchasing merely funnels EVERY purchase request to the most convenient supplier (sometimes just auctioning at lowest bid) without investigation or approval; OR
  2. There is too much red tape and EVERY purchase, from paper clips up to the most sensitive custom component, has to go through a wearisome pile of redundant paperwork (think government toilet seats at $600.)
When the purchasing department abdicates control over supplier selection and approval, downstream in-house customers often have to work around bad situations which erodes profits.

When the controls are overly tight, the inefficiencies of doing "busy work" in dealing with forms and approvals increases non-value-added costs, also eroding profits.
 
C

Caster

An Early Cover
Trusted Information Resource
Business not Quality

piney[/SIZE said:
Well, this is what I have put together so far. Each block will be turned into a slide in a MS PowerPoint presentation. I would appreciate any feedback / suggestions you may have.
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Piney

I tend to take a much different approach, so this is offered for what it is worth.

I have found over the years that as soon as I start talking ISO, Quality, and clause numbers, the game is over.

I try to get through all such presentations by saying the word quality only once. I always substitute "business". I have even asked people to yell "business" if I accidentily slip and say quality (then I say it quite often to keep 'em awake)

Anything to get this out of the "ISO is mandated by quality - I'll do it after I get my REAL job done, if I have time" swamp.

Purchasing is a perfect example...what right does "quality" have to tell them how to run their department? None!

So I pitch ISO as some good common sense business ideas to help the Purchasing department perform better. I remind them that ISO was developed from decades of things gone wrong. There is no need to repeat the most common purchasing mistakes, if we take the advice ISO offers.

Your benefits slide is also something I have tried and failed with. It is motherhood. I now take very specfic examples of purchasing problems that cost money and try to lead people to discover that ISO already had that covered. Use caution because this is a minefield of egos and politics, someone in the room made that mistake!

Parts ordered to the wrong spec. New suppliers not able to achieve quality and cost targets, POs without enough information for the supplier to make the required part, and so on.

I have also done a quick workshop at the start to get people to list their top 10 problems. I then try to tie each one to an ISO clause. And lead people to perhaps see that there might be something in this for them. This is pretty hard to do, you really need to be fast on your feet, or send people for a coffee break to buy some time...

I hold up the ISO book as the cheapest consultant money can buy...$35.00 gets you a list of every mistake a business is likely to make...

So, I try to get people thinking that there may be some good things in this for them, even if it is customer mandated, and driven by thouse annoying people in Quality

It doesn't always work..mostly people go back to their busy day doing exactly what they have always done. But, I'll make 1 convert at a time....

Good luck to you!
 
H

Helmut Jilling

Auditor / Consultant
Caster said:
Piney

I tend to take a much different approach, so this is offered for what it is worth.

I have found over the years that as soon as I start talking ISO, Quality, and clause numbers, the game is over.

I try to get through all such presentations by saying the word quality only once. I always substitute "business". I have even asked people to yell "business" if I accidentily slip and say quality (then I say it quite often to keep 'em awake)

It doesn't always work..mostly people go back to their busy day doing exactly what they have always done. But, I'll make 1 convert at a time....

Good luck to you!
Click to expand...


Caster - Very well stated. Excellent!
 
Peter Fraser

Peter Fraser

Trusted Information Resource
piney said:
Well, this is what I have put together so far. Each block will be turned into a slide in a MS PowerPoint presentation.

I would appreciate any feedback / suggestions you may have.
Click to expand...

How about making it a workshop / discussion, based around the "process approach", and focussing on the procurement process and the Purchasing Dept's role in that, rather than looking at it as a departmental issue?

What kicks off the procurement process (eg sales order, stock reorder levels ...)?
What all is covered (goods, services, call-off contracts ...)?
Where (and who) does the request come from?
What is it they are trying to achieve?
What is the objective of the procurement process?
How does that fit with other (corporate) objectives (eg cutting stock levels, buying on price alone ...)?
What resources are needed for it to work effectively and efficiently (physical, staff, skills and knowledge etc)?
How do you measure success?
What can influence how well it works / what can go wrong?
How can you avoid things going wrong?
How do you fix things after they have gone wrong?
Is it clear who is responsible for each step?
Is it clear who else should be involved (consulted, informed)?
How will you improve?
 
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