Showing Interrelationships - How Much Detail?

[david williams]

Iso 9001:2000

Is there a source showing alternative approaches to flow charting of "processes". We are a manufacturing company that buys raw materials, combines them and resells a product. We have the standard distribution of departments/functions.It's unclear to me what level of detail and interelationships are going to be expected.

 

[M Greenaway]

David

Its unclear to a lot of us.

I asked our assessor and he said 'its up to you'.

 

[sneekparty]

Alternative for flowcharting..?

He David,

I don't know any easy to use alternatives, but if the processes in the departments are similar why don't you make just one flowchart in which you describe the proces and then describe in the scope of that procedure that the procedure concerns all the (assembly) departments in your company...

Hope this helps you...
Greetings,
Martin

 

[Anton Ovsianko]

Dear David,

I have always followed the principle, that any action within the QMS has to contribute to operations efficiency first and only then to ISO 9001 compliance. In your case that means that the level of detail should be as high as it helps. In other words, you have to stop detalization, as soon as it starts raising trouble for those who have to use or follow the flowcharts.

Basically I consider an operation elementary, if it does not involve activities of several people from different departments. This is of course too simplistic - only the basic principle. Then we go into deeper details flowcharting, if there are reasons to think we have to describe the procedure more exactly. Such reasons may include:
- lack of understanding of the process by the executors;
- changing, made to the process;
- non-conformances, observed in the process or its results recently (if they may be caused by the lack of understanding the process);
- a new process may have to be described in more details;
- need to improve the process efficiency;
etc.

But once again: you do not have to break up operation, which are understood by everybody in the company and fulfilled without non-conformances or problems.

MHO

Anton

 

[E Wall]

Using a Matrix Here to show detail

We are identifying the current actual and using this format. This isn't the completed/updated version, but what I started out with. We actually combined several processes so our list is shorter but some might leave them separated...

Anyway use what you want of the format...and if someone improves on it...post it back so I can see it too!

Eileen