Plan-Do-Check-Act
The quality management system structure is now viewed as a series of processes versus the 20 required elements as described in ISO 9001:1994. The process-based structure is based on the "Plan-Do-Check-Act" improvement cycle used in ISO 14000 standards.
Plan
First, start with a plan. Develop assumptions about the desired outcome and determine what resources will be needed, how they will be applied, and ensure that the plan is feasible. Make sure you have "measurable goals" or "effectiveness criteria" so others will know when the goal has been acheived.
Do
Then implement the plan. Deploy the resources and execute the plan.
Check
Evaluate the results. Every good plan must have built-in checkpoints or effectiveness criteria to ensure that the results are as planned. If the results are NOT as planned then STOP and fix the plan.
Act
Communicate the "lessons learned". Act on the data gathered from the "check" phase and go back to the first step and update the plan with this new information to ensure that you are moving forward as planned. Most importantly, communicate the information to others to improve the process.
This process-based structure uses an improvement cycle to ensure that outcomes are as planned or else the trajectory is adjusted so that you will eventually reach the desired outcome. It sounds simple but how many times does the lack of time drive the process and the result becomes... READY - FIRE! - AIM...
The ISO process is designed so that you "say what you are going to do" and then you "do what you said".
Next: What are the Quality Management Principles?
