Which of these 2 ways would you implement a Quality System?

C

Christian?

Hello :)

This company have no quality system as of right now. but the paperwork for it is complete (instructions, procedures etc.).

you can categorize the different elements of the quality system. Down below is some examples:

- Management of document (Procedure + instruction)
- Subsupliers (procedure)
- Production equipment (procedure + instruction + list)
and so on.

Would you implement the system on a logical basis (make sure equipment are OK then make sure personal is OK, then make sure required documents for them to use is OK and etc.)

OR

Would you implement the system based on current customer demands?.

The system is tailored for welding. this means WPS / WPQR (Welding procedure specifikations) and more, often demanded documents. they sometimes ask for equipment list which holds all spec's. they ask for a welding coordinator or that your measure instruments are calibrated and that is documented.

Would you implement the system unlogically, so you can meet the customers demand faster (many accepts there is no quality system as a whole, but certain things are implemented, like the proper WPS). or would you still implement it in the most logical way, but with the sacrifice of not being able to please some customers as fast as possible?.


Its hard to describe it. but the princip of it, is what i'd like to hear your thoughts on. and is it possible to implement a complete quality system in different ways at all?
 
K

kgott

Re: Which of these 2 ways would you implement?

Hello :)

This company have no quality system as of right now. but the paperwork for it is complete (instructions, procedures etc.).

you can categorize the different elements of the quality system. Down below is some examples:

- Management of document (Procedure + instruction)
- Subsupliers (procedure)
- Production equipment (procedure + instruction + list)
and so on.

Would you implement the system on a logical basis (make sure equipment are OK then make sure personal is OK, then make sure required documents for them to use is OK and etc.)

OR

Would you implement the system based on current customer demands?.

The system is tailored for welding. this means WPS / WPQR (Welding procedure specifikations) and more, often demanded documents. they sometimes ask for equipment list which holds all spec's. they ask for a welding coordinator or that your measure instruments are calibrated and that is documented.

Would you implement the system unlogically, so you can meet the customers demand faster (many accepts there is no quality system as a whole, but certain things are implemented, like the proper WPS). or would you still implement it in the most logical way, but with the sacrifice of not being able to please some customers as fast as possible?.


Its hard to describe it. but the princip of it, is what i'd like to hear your thoughts on. and is it possible to implement a complete quality system in different ways at all?


You document how the processes in your business work then you look for how the requirements of 9001, or whatever standard you are working to, applies to those processes. Then you build in those requirements of the standard which are not currently being applied in your business, to the processes in operation.

ISO 9001 is a framework for managing any business of any sort of any size. It's not perfect in its wording but it requires no more than what any well managed business would be doing.
 
C

Christian?

Re: Which of these 2 ways would you implement?

You document how the processes in your business work then you look for how the requirements of 9001, or whatever standard you are working to, applies to those processes. Then you build in those requirements of the standard which are not currently being applied in your business, to the processes in operation.

ISO 9001 is a framework for managing any business of any sort of any size. It's not perfect in its wording but it requires no more than what any well managed business would be doing.


The documentation is done. so the processes are described including the new changes to meet the standards demands.

But you can't implement everything at once, with only one person working with the quality. So there needs to be a plan for how to do it.

Currently, no one follows a procedure or instruction, so for the most part, its quite some changes. therefore i suppose some areas should be implemented before another one.

Some processes are linked to a previous one so that is something to consider.

There is alot of focus on having a documented quality system now and forward.

But getting this new quality system up and running will not be done in 2 days.. it will problaly take months to get it up and running and certified.

Where would you start if you were to implement a quality system, when there is none already?
 
S

SmallBizDave

Re: Which of these 2 ways would you implement?

Perhaps we're missing something. If your documents are done you should start doing audits to compare your actual work practices with what the procedures call for. You'll find mismatches where people aren't following what the document says to do.

For those situations you'll need to decide whether to change what people are doing or change the document to match what they are doing. You'll need to do this at least once for each procedure in each affected area.

In terms of where to start, I'd suggest starting with the area that will most directly affect the quality your customer gets in your product. Typically this is the production area, covered by section 7.5 of the standard. That will lead you into other areas like purchasing, document control, and so on.
 

Wes Bucey

Prophet of Profit
Just for the sake of conversation, how did " the paperwork for it is complete (instructions, procedures etc.)" get complete? Is this a set of documentation from someone else's documentation with only the company name changed or did someone actually watch how the processes and activities happen at your company and document them?

How many people from the company who actually perform operations were involved in formulating the documentation? Do ALL the employees already know about the existence of this documentation or are you going to spring it on them once you figure out which way you will implement them?

Did you perform a gap analysis of current operations against a Quality Management System Standard and discuss the discrepancies and gaps with ALL the personnel?

Alas, I'm old and tired, but not so old and tired that I don't care about letting someone go off half-cocked, wasting time and money on a plan grafted from another company's documents.

Give us some details about what went into creating this "quality documentation" and we'll try to steer you in the right direction.
 
C

Christian?

Hey again :)

I like the princip of going after what impacts quality the most.

Wes. Unfortunatly they are made without having spoken much with the people themself. so they are based on:

- What the standard says
- What we do now

So it is not someone else's paperwork with the company name simply changed.

So the best way would to do a pre-audit. Taking notes on what is currently fullfilled, and find out what is exactly done right now then try edit the documents to match as much as possible, as long as its within the standard (and if it doesent harm the end quality either).

I am new to this, thats why there surely is some errors here and there and you guys are experts. Dont be too harsh on me hehe :)

Besides Wes. i know you can't force something down their throats, its a company wide project, not just something one person can make.

I will take these suggestions with me to help.
 
M

mlaurie

We actually did this last year in preparation for our AS 9100 certification that we achieved in March 2013. Most business are meeting most of the standard anyway. It?s that shove by Top Management that?s needed to complete the deal. I don?t see how it?s possible to do the documents first. Walk the processes and the procedure writes itself. Responsibility & Authority define it and stick to. In hind sight our Q manual could have been 10 to 15 pages max. We tried it the other way on our 13485 Medical division, we wrote procedure?s by copying and pasting someone else?s system. It still a mess and taking a lot of re-write to get to current practices.
If top management is pushing it and you have the green light keep it real.
 
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