Starting a new Quality System

[DanteCaspian]

A much easier approach is to design a system around an universally deployed and accepted protocol, which gives you tremendous flexibility, while still focusing on customer satisfaction.

The name of the protocol? ISO 9001.

With the why and customer focus approach, this is where to start.
In my current organization, when I started as QAM, I tried this and found that there were so many deficiencies (away from good business sense... any sense for that matter) that we changed gears, and started with Lean, moving to conform to ISO.

 

[Stijloor]

<snip>While top down is needed for support of any change, implementation or maintaining, "the rest will follow" is too generic.

Yes, may be too generic/simplistic.....and I made a similar comment in my post...but trust me, when there's 100% commitment, involvement and unwavering support from Top Management, design and imlementation of a QMS is indeed a "breeze" compared to wasting time and effort to "obtain Top Management's commitment." Tust me...."been there done that."

A topic endlessly discussed here at The Cove Forums... So I shall shut up....

Stijloor.

 

[timference]

This best start is with the company business goals ands objectives. from this a quality policy needs to be created to support these goals. From there, it is a pretty straight process (I am assuming you have quality management experience and are familiar with the ISO standards).

I am also assuming that management has made a commitment for this. With out their support, forget it.

Deternmine what standard(s) you are certifiying to. (ISO 9001, TS16949, Sorftware, Medical, etc) The general requirements are the same but depending on the industry, there are specxific requirements that need to be met. ISO9001 is always a good place to start as it can be applied to any type of industry.

Form a team. This requires all levels of the company to attend including top managment all the way down to houskeeping.

Create an implementation timeline. and Gantt chanrt. to see where your efforts need to be focused

review current processes and procedure. this si the best start. Find out how the current oines apply to the standard requirements and find out where you are lacking.

From there all I can tell you is to kjeep focused, keepan open issues list and follow up as much as possible. If the resources are available, get some outside consulting. this will give you an objective opinion not scewed by current processes.

 

[Caster]

... if your customers had their way, how would you run your business processes? Now, step in your top management shoes and try to imagine how your organization should run your business processes in order to maximize return on the investment. From these two "diametrically opposing" perspectives,.... .

Hi Sidney

Can you clarify this a bit for me?

Do you mean the customer wants to buy gold plated perfection for free and the company wants to sell scrap for oil company profit levels?

Must it be that win lose?

A lot of research puts the lie to the idea that business are set up to maximize ROI, at least when the entrepreneur is still around, most are created for the love of it all. Bill Gates did not set out with any other idea than to play with really cool stuff.

I think we see where pursuit of the shareholder value at all costs has gotten us.

 

[Sidney Vianna]

Do you mean the customer wants to buy gold plated perfection for free and the company wants to sell scrap for oil company profit levels?

That analogy represents the conundrum of business. Because neither scenario are likely nor sustainable, we end up with a business model that falls somewhere between the two extremes.

 

[maple1]

Hi,

As mentioned by most, management commitment is the base to begin the quality management system journey.

Assuming that this is in place, you need to first define the scope of the system (products, processes, departments, locations ect) that will be within the scope of the QMS.

Identify a key individual from each department who would will be required to implement QMS requirements within his/her department. Ensure that these individuals are trained on the standard and that they understand the requirements.

Document processes and procedures to be followed by each team in their respective function (HR, Administration, purchase etc.) Define measurement metrics to analyse the performance of each function.

Setting up a QMS involves many more steps and is a long journey. For others to recommend what is to be done, we need to know at what stage are you right now. You need to answer questions like:

1. Are you going to appoint a consultant to help U set up the QMS?
2. Are you going to setup a seperate team to take charge of the activities part of setting up and maintaining a QMS?
3. Is the organisation looking for certification to ISO 9001:2008? Or do you just want to implement QMS to ensure that best practices are followed within the organisation?
4. What is the timeline you are looking for certification?

Regards,

 

[Helmut Jilling]

This best start is with the company business goals ands objectives. from this a quality policy needs to be created to support these goals. From there, it is a pretty straight process (I am assuming you have quality management experience and are familiar with the ISO standards).

I am also assuming that management has made a commitment for this. With out their support, forget it.

Deternmine what standard(s) you are certifiying to. (ISO 9001, TS16949, Sorftware, Medical, etc) The general requirements are the same but depending on the industry, there are specxific requirements that need to be met. ISO9001 is always a good place to start as it can be applied to any type of industry.

Form a team. This requires all levels of the company to attend including top managment all the way down to houskeeping.

Create an implementation timeline. and Gantt chanrt. to see where your efforts need to be focused

review current processes and procedure. this si the best start. Find out how the current oines apply to the standard requirements and find out where you are lacking.

From there all I can tell you is to kjeep focused, keepan open issues list and follow up as much as possible. If the resources are available, get some outside consulting. this will give you an objective opinion not scewed by current processes.

Very well said...

Do the things stated above, in that sequence. It is very good.

I would emphasize, define the processes before you begin to write procedures.

Define all the main and supporting processes in your company. Then, have a champion or small group write a procedure, SOP, or whatever you want to call it, for each process you defined.

The rest will flow pretty naturally from these steps.

Get good training if you need it, to get your team grounded before you begin (not afterwards). It will pay for itself in time saved and better performance.

 

[AndyN]

I think that one thing that's often talked about here, but not really defined or clearly understood is 'commitment'. What are we talking about? "Gotta get management's commitment!" is a mantra. But commitment to what?

Do we want commitment to certification? Do we want commitment to the deployment of an ISO XXXX based qms as a means to manage processes etc?

Without gaining some level of understanding by management of what they're committing to, you'll eventually go off the rails in some fashion. Some will show 'commitment' - they turn up to the project meetings, get their people to write documents etc., but that could be a facade.
That's why an understanding/education in what ISO is all about is so important - possibly from one of those training sessions, (but not exclusively).