Quality Operating Procedures - Eliminating the term 'Quality'

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#11
Method , Technique are some other nice neutral words to try to avoid documents getting lost in the Quality Ghetto.

And of course they don't need to be actual text documents (can be flowcharts, wikis, videos, computer systems, etc)

The fact that this has even come up may mean you have a deeper problem.

The company culture may be verbal, and nothing can ever be done to move towards documented procedures in such a company.

Usually this culture can be detected by an order giver/order taker style of management <just tell me what to do and I'll do it>

It may be a e-mail driven culture <you should know - I cc'd you on an e-mail 4 months ago!>

Like the others, I favor using business system documents.

I did a team exercise to review the ISO requirements to see which department should own each clause - some were surprised that the "group called quality" only owned about 20% of it.

The real owners are usually too busy fighting fires to bother to try get organized to prevent them. In some cases they like the fires since it fills up the day nicely.

I'm always amazed when the approach to ISO is "what's the least we can do" and "that's quality's problem"

Some people just can't see the benefit of having a standard method to do work, interestingly Toyota sees the value.
 
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Patricia Ravanello

Quite Involved in Discussions
#12
I am in the process of implementing a brand new quality system at my company. In the past I have use terms like QOP (Quality Operating Procedures) and QSP (Quality System Procedures) to identify the quality procedures that are written according to the ISO standards.

Does anyone have suggestions on what these procedures could be called???

Thanks in advance!
Hi Piney,

I've seen many systems called "Management Operating Systems", "Business Systems", and "Business Operating Systems", totally dropping the quality moniker. If you want Management to take ownership for the high level documents (procedures), you should give your system a name with which they can identify, and which communicates that ownership to all employees. These organizations call their Manuals the "B.O.S. Manual" or "M.O.S. Manual" (how about B.S. Manual...Business System Manual??).

The terms System or Standard Operating Procedure (S.O.P.), or Operating Procedures, are commonly used titles for high level documents, and again have no reference to quality.

:2cents: Not that you asked , but personally, I object to the use of the word "Quality" since it implies "High" or "superior" quality to the uninitiated, when in fact, an organization might well be generating mediocre or low quality products. However, if that's what the customer has pre-defined, then it's your job to consistently produce those "mediocre" products per customer specifications. ISO is more about consistent results and pre-defined, controlled and predictable output than it is about quality. If it was about "high" quality, we would probably have cars that last a lot longer, along with the miriad of other consumer goods that constantly need replacement due to the "quality" (or lack thereof) of their component parts.

Patricia Ravanello
 
P

Piero

#13
Some time ago I attended a workshop called “Nobody calls it ‘quality’!”. In my country this words was misused, it is worn-out and it means often something smoky, a peace of paper more to hang on the wall in the boss office.

If it can help you, our documents pyramid is mainly composed of:

1. Quality Manual
2. Process Maps
3. Management procedures
4. Technical Procedures
5. Project Quality Plans
6. Project Management Procedures
7. Work Instructions and Method Statements
8. Inspection & test plans
9. Quality Records

We use 'quality' in 3 cases and anyhow we speak about 'Quality Management System'. It’s not easy to escape from using this word.
I think that if 'quality' is the one with the big Q (I mean Total Quality according to Juran’s Quality Handbook) we can avoid easily the word. We could speak about Company Management Manual, Project Execution Plans and Records.
In my Company we don’t have total quality: some processes are not in the scope of the QMS.
 

RoxaneB

Super Moderator
Super Moderator
#14
I will admit that avoid using the word "quality" when it comes to items within the business system, as I'm an advocate of integration.

For example, in document control, wouldn't it make sense if work instructions for quality or environment or safety or even finance followed the same protocols and templates? It certainly would help facilitate an organization speaking the same language.

It's the same thing for nonconformances. If there is one name for one tool that applies to every one and every process, it's a lot easy for people to communication and those walls between our departments are easier to knock down (or at least scale over!)
 
Y

Yarik

#15
What I would like to do this time is to use a term that does not use the word "quality" in the description in an effort to get across the point that the procedures are "Company Operating Procedures." Some individuals tend to not take procedures as seriously when they hear the word quality but step up to the plate when the word company or corporate is used.

Does anyone have suggestions on what these procedures could be called???

Thanks in advance!
Hello Piney,

I'm very far from being an expert in this area (I've just started to work on a QMS for our small business from scratch, and we are not even aiming at certification yet). But I was pondering the same idea all the time lately. In fact, I am seriously considering elimination of the word "quality" wherever possible. And here is why:

Our company does not seem to be a case where the concept of "quality" is in a "ghetto", so my reasons are different. The main reason to avoid this term is that ISO's definition of this concept appears to be very controversial - somewhat out of sync with what regular people perceive as "quality". As a result, all the lingo related to QMS becomes extremely confusing for regular people.

Perhaps, the following simple example would help to convey my concern: let's take a typical fast-food restaurant and a typical upscale restaurant.

  • First, I am sure that most of the people unfamiliar with ISO's definition of "quality" would easily agree with a statement that the quality of food in the former is always much lower than in the latter, and that the fast-food restaurant always produces low quality meals. However, according to ISO's definition of "quality", the situation may be exactly opposite. ISO defines "quality" as degree of conformance of a product to the requirements determined for it. So, for example, a customer who ORDERED a burger and then got a well-cooked, fresh burger just cannot complain about low quality of the service he/she just received! According to ISO the customer must have been satisfied, right?
  • Now, let's take a look at the other side of the "fence"... Let's say I come to some fast-food restaurant and suggest to implement a QMS. The immediate reaction from everyone (including management) is like "No way! It is ridiculous to try to make our small restaurant compete with all those HIGH-QUALITY upscale restaurants downtown!"
I hope you get the idea...

As far as I can see, people are extremely resistant to accept ISO's definition of "quality"! In my case, I'm still struggling with explaining all this to our President, who is much more educated, smart and open-minded than most of the people I know. Explaining this to the clerks in our company appears to be a hopeless task.

So, I am also wondering what do professionals think abou adequacy of the term "quality" in ISO? Did ISO themselves manage to produce a high-quality term here? :confused: How reasonable is the idea of dropping this term from the vocabulary wherever possible? Obviously many people do it here and there, but how common is this approach?

FWIW, the book that I am reading right now - Craig Cochran's "ISO 9000 In Plain English" - also insists on dropping the word "quality", but the author seems to have slightly different reasoning for that...

I guess, I've raised more questions than I answered. Still, this issue bothers me quite a lot, so I could not resist and jumped in.

Best regards,
Yarik.
 
J

JaneB

#16
Yarik, I do agree the terms can be confusing. I'd encourage you to leave out the word quality from procedures if it doesn't add anything. (Some people like to use it, some don't). eg, I don't see the need to have 'quality procedures' and 'safety procedures' and 'environmental procedures' all as separate things, myself (they're all just procedures to me) but some do - and in larger organisations & some circumstances I can understand why.

But a couple of things you said aren't correct.

a customer who ORDERED a burger and then got a well-cooked, fresh burger just cannot complain about low quality of the service he/she just received! According to ISO the customer must have been satisfied, right?
No, absolutely not. While the food itself may have met the requirements, the service did not - and service should also meet reasonable standards. (After all - would you go there next time?) That is one of the 'implied' requirements - ones which may not be explicitly stated, but those which the customer expects.

eg, You wouldn't like to eat in a dirty restaurant, be the food ever so fine. Neither would I. But neither of us expect to have to specify, when walking in/booking a table, that the restaurant and its kitchen is clean. We expect that (& have every right to do so); that's another implied requirement.

The relevant refs in 9001 are 7.2.1, particularly clause b) and perhaps also clause d) - those the organisation itself determined. So, if your fast food burger restaurant had set certain minimum service levels (& I hope they had) they were not in your example meeting them. (7.2.1 d)

This is another reason why the Standard insists on the importance of monitoring customer perception of satisfaction. Too many businesses think that simply providing the 'right' product means the customer 'must' be satisfied. Not so.

Let's say I come to some fast-food restaurant and suggest to implement a QMS. The immediate reaction from everyone (including management) is like "No way! It is ridiculous to try to make our small restaurant compete with all those HIGH-QUALITY upscale restaurants downtown!"
Yes, you could well be right. But you need to explain to the fast food restaurant what a 'QMS' is and in terms that they can understand. I am often amused when watching a Gordon Ramsay program for example, at how many (& often not very 'upmarket) restaurants do not have even a half-way reasonable, let alone properly functioning QMS. And a very good reason why they're losing customers, losing money and often about to go broke/out of business.

In my case, I'm still struggling with explaining all this to our President, who is much more educated, smart and open-minded than most of the people I know. Explaining this to the clerks in our company appears to be a hopeless task.
OK - but don't tell them things that aren't so ;) like your burger example!
Understanding what the Standard is actually saying is important - equally as important as interpreting and applying it to your unique organisation.

I contend that everything in there is sheer good business sense, and I believe you (& your President) also will too when you understand it better.

Keep thinking & asking - that's how one learns. And do feel free to speak up - that's what an online forum is for, IMO.
 
J

JaneB

#17
What I would like to do this time is to use a term that does not use the word "quality" in the description in an effort to get across the point that the procedures are "Company Operating Procedures."
Go for it. Why not just what you said: 'Company Operating Procedures'?

Or even shorter: Company Procedures? (I've yet to see any non-operating procedures you see).:D

Or think up a unique name. One company I know has the word ProActive in their company name - they call their system Be ProActive (which I like). And their procedures are just that: their procedures.
 
J

JaneB

#18
:topic:
Patricia, I'm with you, I often dislike the word 'Quality' being used as it's so commonly used to mean excellent or superior, when it isn't.

But I loathe the term 'SOP' - the acronym for one thing is awful and for another, the full name is 9 syllables which is too darned long, in my opinion!
 
Y

Yarik

#19
Yarik, I do agree the terms can be confusing.
...
But a couple of things you said aren't correct.
...
While the food itself may have met the requirements, the service did not - and service should also meet reasonable standards.
...
Yes, you could well be right. But you need to explain to the fast food restaurant what a 'QMS' is and in terms that they can understand.
...
OK - but don't tell them things that aren't so ;) like your burger example!
...
Well, I have to admit that my contrived example with restaurants was not the best possible. However, I did not ignore other aspects of the service - I just implied, for simplicity sake, that all those other aspects are adequate in both cases. Just tried to concentrate on one, most obvious aspect - the food. (Was very hungry when writing that example - a perfect customer for McDonalds around the corner! :))

After all, I hope you are not saying that a fast-food restaurant has no chance to achieve high "ISO quality" (no matter how clear their facilities are, how polite their stuff is, etc.) just because there are people who never like burgers and fries.

My experience so far shows that people perceive the concept of quality very differently from how ISO defines it. It definitely takes some effort to make people "get it" and probably will take some effort to make people keep "getting it" afterwards.

By the way, I think my personal beef with the term "quality" may be in part caused by the nature of our company's business: we sell used (not necessarily refurbished) networking equipment; in fact sometimes customers order cards that are flat broken (to salvage some components, obviously). So it seems to be especially difficult for our people to grasp how a used product can ever be a high-quality product (and its sale - be a high-quality service). Even after a couple of weeks of immersing myself into "QMS World" I am still perplexed how are we going to overcome this.


Anyway, your point about comprehensive approach to understanding quality (about implied customer's requirements, expectations, etc.) is well taken. I agree that in some cases those implied requirements may be much more important than explicit ones. :agree1:

I contend that everything in there is sheer good business sense, and I believe you (& your President) also will too when you understand it better.
I'm sure we will. With the boss - we are almost there. :)

The next challenge is going to be the concept of "process", I think. :mg:
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Patricia Ravanello

Quite Involved in Discussions
#20
:topic:
Patricia, I'm with you, I often dislike the word 'Quality' being used as it's so commonly used to mean excellent or superior, when it isn't.

But I loathe the term 'SOP' - the acronym for one thing is awful and for another, the full name is 9 syllables which is too darned long, in my opinion!
I agree wholeheartedly...I think just "Procedures" is just fine". I'm all for brevity.

Patricia
 
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