For example, the ISO 9000:2005 definition states:

Corrective Action (Clause 3.6.5):
action to eliminate the cause of a detected nonconformity and its recurrence.

Preventive Action (Clause 3.6.4):
action to eliminate the cause of a potential nonconformity and its occurrence.

But does this really clear it up for anyone?

What’s the Difference between Corrective Action and Preventive Action?

Corrective action is performed on detected nonconformities.  In other words, there are real defects that exist right now and action must be taken to stop them from ever happening again in the future.  Most people get this and seem to understand the concept of real defects needing to be fixed—permanently, so they do not cause further aggravation.  But what about preventive actions?

People seem to get hung up on what a potential nonconformity is and how do you prevent it from ever occurring in the first place?  Potential defects are defects that could happen.  I think a better description would be to call these risks.  Everyone understands the concept of risk at some level.  If we keep using a dull blade on a saw, then we are taking a risk because at some point that blade is going to break.

Using a dull blade is a bad business practice, right?  So what other bad business practices are you using in your business that you should fix to prevent a bad outcome (nonconformity) from occurring?  Potential nonconformities are all around us in every business.  The question is, how do you find potential nonconformities?  The best way to find them is to look for them using common quality tools.

Top Ten Preventive Actions

1. Analyze process or product characteristics for negative trends that, if left alone, could drift into a nonconformity.  Such analysis can be documented into a control plan.
2. Install alarms to warn you when your process is drifting into a nonconformity.  Statistical process control charts provide excellent alarms.
3. Review nonconformances found in similar processes, products, or companies for ideas that could be applied to your business.  Benchmarking similar companies is great for brainstorming preventive actions.
4. Perform risk analysis to uncover latent hazards.  Failure Mode Effects Analysis (FMEA) is a great tool for process risk analysis.
5. Implement lean thinking to eliminate wastes, which are obvious signals of latent causes of future defects.
6. Establish more rigorous training programs to continuously improve your employee’s skills.  Regular training introduces new ideas into your organization that can be sources of innovation that prevent nonconformities.
7. Introduce disaster recovery, security, and contingency plans for unpredictable situations, hazards, or safety conditions.
8. Set up preventive maintenance & calibration control programs to ensure your equipment is always safe, available, and performing optimally.
9. Begin supplier surveillance audits to assist your supply chain in delivering quality product to you consistently.
10. Analyze your process capabilities to create a foundation for improvement.  Use Capability Maturity Model (CMM) or Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) for inspiration.

What preventive actions do you take in your business to eliminate defects BEFORE they occur?

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In manufacturing we know what a defect is.  Good products are made to specifications and therefore meet customer requirements.  A good product meets the intended purpose, has the right dimensions, and is what was ordered.  The product does not break when used.  It is free from dents, scratches, or material blemishes.  The product should be clean, safe, and doesn’t make the customer think.  It should just work…

We see product defects.  They are pretty obvious.  So why can’t we see service defects?

Manufacturers also have service requirements.  The product must be delivered on time.  If it does fail in the field, then timely support should be available to fix the problem.  Many products are sold on credit (a service).  Some even install, train and maintain the product, an obvious service requirement.

But what about customer service?

That’s right, it is a service too.  The customer expects a manufacturer to take the order correctly, to understand the customers business enough to know what the product is being ordered to do in the field.  Customers also expect to interact with friendly and polite personnel that understand that the client’s time is valuable.

Yet, many manufacturing organizations only seem to think in terms of product or material defects even though there are apparent service requirements in every business.  Nonconformances are not only about product failures.  In today’s world, many companies are assembling and integrating components (a service) more that manufacturing them from scratch.  We are realizing that we are actually more of a service economy than a manufacturing economy.  So we need to start understanding our service failures to start tracking our service nonconformances.

Services contain many implied requirements based on your industry, which defines your customer’s expectations.  Failing to deliver upon the clients expectations might produce customer complaints and would constitute a Service Nonconformance.  Perhaps you receive feedback from your customers when an expectation is not met.  Customer feedback for corrective action is more than complaints.  So what are the top ten customer expectations that lead to a service nonconformance?

Top Ten Customer Expectations That Drive Service Nonconformances

1. Friendly, polite interactions with an understanding that the client’s time is valuable.
2. Work hours convenient to the customer.
3. Timely delivery, interactions and repairs to prevent delays which affect the customer’s schedule.
4. Competent staff that don’t make errors, omissions or just plain poor assumptions.
5. No Rework, resubmission, repeating, or repairs.
6. No Unauthorized changes to projects, schedules, plans, prices, specifications, materials, etc.
7. Compliance with established policies, procedures, specifications or Quality Assurance Plans.
8. No hidden costs, cost overruns (which result from all other failures), or cost surprises.
9. Knowledge of the market, who the customer is, what they want, and how much they will pay.
10. You say what you do and you do what you say.

What is a Service Nonconformance?

In general, any problem related to interactions, delivery, quality, schedule, or budget.  Failing to meet customer expectations is a service nonconformance.  Does the customer really have to tell you that they want you to answer the phone, deliver a product that works, and fits within the budget of the target customer?  This is basic service and any manufacturing company should be practicing basic service more and more to survive in today’s service based economy.

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1. Work harder— find ways to increase your task focus.

Work when you are working.  Spend less time socializing and focus on what you need to get done today.  Focus on the tasks at hand and don’t wander into new tasks, multi-task, or get distracted.  The key is to focus and not waste your precious time at work.

2. Work Faster—find ways to pick up your work pace.

Develop a work rhythm and maintain your tempo (in lean we call it your takt time).  Find ways to increase your tempo and get on with the job at hand.  If you are tired or slowing down, then stop, and get a cup of coffee.  Keep your tempo up, up, up.

3. Work on Higher Value Activities—find ways to prioritize your tasks.

It’s important to understand what tasks will bring you more results.  Think quality over quantity.  Less is more.  Doing fewer higher value tasks will increase your productivity more than performing a greater quantity of low value tasks.  Using a visual management system can help focus your company on what is adding value.

4. Do The Things You Are Better At—find ways to focus on results.

You probably are better at the things you like doing.  As a result you get better at those things and do more of them more often.  So focus on what you are good at and you will be more productive.

5. Group Your Tasks—find ways to focus on related tasks.

Focus.  Don’t multi-task!  Group related task together and do them at the same time.  Answer your email, make phone calls, or write letters together at a designated time.  By constantly switching between tasks or stopping to read email, you will lose small amounts of time that make up the “switching costs”.  You will lose time because you have to wrap you mind around a new task and understand where you left off.  This learning curve time is waste and can be eliminated by grouping related tasks.

6. Work Smarter—find ways to simplify Your Work.

AS the number of steps to a task increases, so does the complexity and therefore, the time required to complete the task.  This is called the Law of Complexity.  Find ways to remove steps and reduce task complexity.  This simple process improvement plan will greatly increase your productive work.

7. Work Longer Hours—find more minutes in the day.

Arrive 16 minutes earlier, leave 16 minutes later, and spend 16 minutes less time at lunch and breaks created 48 minutes a day or 4 hours a week, which increase your available time by 10%.  Use this time to get organized for work and plan or review your day.

Every day you should review your day’s results to learn how to focus your time on the higher value tasks you are better at.  Use your extra time to plan, review and focus.  This is all part of Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) that drives continuous improvement in a learning organization.

Seven Ways to Increase Your Productivity at Work

1. Work harder— find ways to increase your task focus.
2. Work Faster—find ways to pick up your work pace.
3. Work on Higher Value Activities—find ways to prioritize your work.
4. Do the Things You Are Better At—find ways to focus on results.
5. Group Your Tasks—find ways to focus on related tasks.
6. Work Smarter—find ways to simplify Your Work.
7. Work Longer Hours—find more minutes in the day.

Implementing a system of policies and procedures will help any organization get organized, focus on the work at hand, group tasks, and as a result, work harder and smarter.  Download free sample procedures to see how its done.

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The Top Ten Document Compliance Manager Job Description Responsibilities:

1. Document Compliance Standards.  Documents and records are used all throughout the company.  Nobody should know more about document compliance and control than the Document Compliance Manager.  Your experience with Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), ISO standards (i.e. 9001), Sarbanes Oxley, or 21 CFR 820 within a regulated industry are important to managing and controlling compliance documents and records.
2. Compliance Document Management.  As a Document Compliance Manager, your Knowledge of Quality documents, the documentation process, and quality forms and records is crucial to maintaining your company’s document compliance program.  You are responsible for organizing documents for fast retrieval using document management software.  Managing documents, records, forms, and work instructions is vital to maintaining your company’s compliance program.
3. Document Compliance Writing.  A Document Compliance Manager may at times act as a technical writer.  Familiarity with process mapping, process design, and policy and procedure writing will help you to succeed.  Technical writing conveys process information using active voice construction, instructional design, and desktop publishing methods to transform data into useful information.
4. Document Compliance Software.  The life of a Document Compliance Manager may include creating, editing, and managing compliance documents using Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Visio as well as document revision control software for policies and procedures management.
5. Compliance Management.  A Document Compliance Manager works with others within a team environment to improve established company policies and procedures.  Developing standard operating procedures, quality policies, and business process communication is the job.
6. Document Compliance Communications.  Compliance training along with explaining document compliance to others is what a Document Compliance Manager does.  Including being able to understand various instructions to ensure they conform to the established best practice and are followed.
7. Document Control.  A Document Compliance Manager is also the Document Control Manager responsible for document control practices and document revision control using document management software.  Document control is a key priority.
8. Compliance Auditing.  Ensuring compliance, conformance, and compliance effectiveness are an important aspect of a Document Compliance Manager’s job.  Performing audits, reviewing audit reports and ensuring audit findings are resolved — especially document audit findings – are activities that ensure the compliance program is working.
9. Record Control.  The compliance system relies on data collection.  Business process data needs to be recorded and all records generated then need to be controlled.  The Document Compliance Manager is involved in controlling the forms used to record data onto records and ensuring the records stay controlled as they are used, stored, and preserved.
10. Compliance Support.  As a member of the quality and compliance team, overall assistance and support of the Compliance Officer, Quality Manager, and Audit Manager are part of the job.  One must strive to maintain the management system in place and help any areas where documents and records are used for compliance.

Top 10 Document Compliance Manager Responsibilities:

1. Document Compliance Standards.
2. Compliance Document Management.
3. Document Compliance Writing.
4. Document Compliance Software.
5. Compliance Management.
6. Document Compliance Communications.
7. Document Control.
8. Compliance Auditing.
9. Record Control.
10. Compliance Support.

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ISO Definition

The ISO standards are not named after an acronym.  ISO comes from the Greek word ‘isos’ for equal.  All ISO standards use the name ISO to mean ‘isos’ and not to mean an acronym I.S.O.  So now, no matter what country or language that ISO is used in, the ISO standards are always pronounced the same.  It is not an I.S.O. standard as many people think, it is an ISO standard — ISO is one word, with no pauses or periods.  ISO means ISO standards not the I.S.O. organization.  But if you want to think of the standards organization as ISO, well at least it works that way in the Unites States where we say International Standards Organization.  Just remember its different in other countries…

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The blog content comes from our training classes, consulting practice, and the policies and procedures manuals themselves.  Over the years we have written about a wide range of topics.  People still ask questions and we are still answering them every month.

Below are some of the top questions regarding quality management systems.

1. What’s the Difference Between Policies and Procedures?
2. Are Procedures the Same as Work Instructions?
3. What’s the Difference between Corrective Action and Preventive Action?
4. What’s the Difference Between Verification and Validation?
5. What is a Lean ISO 9001 Quality Management System?
6. What Procedures Should You Write?
7. What is Continuous Improvement?
8. What is a Process Map?
9. How Are PDCA Cycles Used Inside ISO 9001?
10. Why Policies and Procedures Don’t Work.

If you have any questions about ISO 9000, quality, lean six sigma, or management systems design, ask them below and I will be happy to answer them in an upcoming blog post.

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1. Quality Standards.  Documents and records are used all throughout the company.  Nobody should know more about quality, compliance and processes than the Quality Manager.  Your experience with Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), ISO standards (i.e. ISO 9001), Sarbanes Oxley, or 21 CFR 820 within a regulated industry are important to managing and controlling documents and records.
2. Quality Project Management.  A Quality Manager is also a project manager managing corrective action, process improvement, and auditing projects.  One must have strong self-motivation, the ability to work independently, and within a team environment with strong follow up, organization and prioritization skills and excellent attention to detail helps too.  Perhaps most important of all is understanding the financial – risk-reward – trade-offs in good project management.
3. Business Process Documentation.  A Quality Manager must be able to understand, comply, and improve established company policies and procedures.  Developing standard work, policies, procedures, job aids, and business process communications are a part of the job.  A Quality Manager is also a technical writer.  Familiarity with policy and procedure writing will help you to succeed.  Technical writing conveys technical information using active voice construction, instructional design, and desktop publishing methods to transfer information into understandable and useful information.
4. Document Control.  As the Quality Manager, your Knowledge of the Quality documentation process, Document Control practices, and managing documents, records, forms, and work instructions is vital to maintaining your company’s compliance program.  A Quality Manager may be the Document Control Manager responsible for organizing documents into an easy to use and fast retrieval system.  Users need their policies and procedures to conform to requirements.  If they cannot find them, then they cannot follow them… Document control is an important priority.
5. Quality Communications.  It might go without saying but explaining business process compliance to others is what a Quality Manager has to do.  Being able to understand a variety of instructions furnished in written, oral, diagram, or schedule form helps others to follow and conform to the established best practice.  Communicating compliance and conformance is done using software such as Microsoft Word and Excel, training using PowerPoint, process mapping using Visio, Statistical Process Control (SPC) using statistics, as well as document revision control software for policies and procedures management.
6. People Management.  A Quality Manager should not be afraid of asking questions, collecting business process information, and working with others in a positive and collaborative manner.  Business processes include sensitive accounting and financial processes too.  So, you must be comfortable speaking effectively and communicating directly with all levels of personnel.
7. Quality Auditing.  A Quality Manager performs some of the quality audits.  Supply chain audits, process audits, and may even lead ISO audits an act as a Lead Auditor managing teams of auditors.  Clearly understanding the compliance requirements, collecting objective evidence, and writing up audit reports ensure the quality management system is operating effectively.
8. Problem Solving.  The Quality Manager solves problems, typically in situations where general standardization should exist, but may not be operating effectively.  Using process mapping techniques, lean, or Six Sigma process improvement methodology is essential to reducing waste and being effective in the Quality role.   A delicate balance exists between resolving problems yourself and identifying those situations that require management intervention for a solution.  Good political judgment is required where quality and compliance are concerned.
9. Team Player.  The Quality Manager is involved in teams and meetings at every level of the organization.  Management reviews, material reviews, supplier reviews, corrective action reviews, process improvement teams, audits, customer visits and strategy discussions.  A good Quality Manager is involved with many areas of the company.
10. Quality “Go To” Guy.  The Quality Manager is the person that everybody goes to to get answers about quality.  Product specifications, supplier requirements, testing, inspections, part verification, equipment calibration, corrective actions, non-conformances, workers compensation, benchmarking, voice of the customer, and on and on.  The buck stops here at Quality.

The Top Ten Quality Manager Job Description Responsibilities

1. Quality Standards.
2. Quality Project Management.
3. Business Process Documentation
4. Document Control.
5. Quality Communications.
6. People Management.
7. Quality Auditing.
8. Problem Solving.
9. Team Player.
10. Quality “Go To” Guy.

As the Quality Manager you are responsible for Quality Management System (QMS) and all of its related compliance.  You manage quality policies, procedures, processes, programs, and practices, to assure the company of continuous improvement, conformance and effectiveness.  In a smaller company you may also be the document control manager, quality auditor, and process improvement specialist.  But you are always a team player that has input on anything to do with quality.

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Have you gained quality improvement expertise over the years working with many manufacturing, information technology, and service organizations?   Bizmanualz understands your ongoing challenges of building a Quality Management System, implementing Lean Thinking, or the day-to-day struggles to maintain your ISO registration.   ISO 9001 assistance is close at hand.  Bizmanualz can provide quality management support either with onsite or remote assistance.

Policies, procedures, and forms documentation.  Now you can develop a simple ISO system in as little as 12 pages that requires less overhead using Lean ISO 9001:2008 conforming policies, procedures, and forms documents.  Each document is easily editable in MS-Word to customize to your situation.

Procedure management software. Once your documents are drafted you can simplify your document version control and management tasks using online software that ensures document reviews and approvals are completed prior to release.  Deliver relevant documents to every point-of-use or to your auditors via the internet.  Improved document access control, search and retrieval ensure your users have what they need.  Using an online procedure management software means no more back-up, retention, and document control findings too.

1^st and 2^nd Party audit support.  You don’t need to have a full-time internal or supplier audit staff.  Just contract experienced auditors to oversee the internal audit process, schedules, and audit plans, as needed.  You will receive timely audit reports for your supplier audits, pre-assessment audits, internal audits or full system audits.

Quality Management Support. Obtain fast answers to your quality management system questions from experienced, certified quality managers that can lead management reviews with complete records of results, follow-up on management review action items, and oversee nonconformance, corrective and preventive action processes.  Technical advise on quality policy, quality objectives, and overall QMS performance is readily available.

Continuous Improvement Support. Trained and experienced Lean / Six Sigma facilitators are available to organize, lead and document Lean / Six Sigma improvement events (like 5S, Preventive Maintenance, Set-up reduction, line balancing, etc).  Contract for a only the ISO quality, lean, and six sigma training you need.  Having problems with SPC, calibration, FMEA, control plans, customer feedback processes?  Training programs, advise, and guidance can be yours.

Using Bizmanualz provides competent and cost effective resources that reduce common audit findings and management stress related to the quality management system.  Now you can quickly resolve common audit findings related to:

• Qualified personnel and training
• Working document and record control
• Timely internal audits and management reviews
• Viable Nonconformance, Corrective and Preventive Action system

Bizmanualz maintains competent, qualified (ASQ Certified) personnel available as Lean / Six Sigma facilitators, part-time quality managers, and part-time lead auditors.  Now you have a cost effective solution using less than a full time quality staff that are available as need demands and you pay only for what you use.

Bizmanualz quality system services offer less stress for management using a working QMS to retain your ISO Certification.  Your management just reviews and approves actions on a scheduled basis.  Now that’s easy.

The Five Areas Bizmanualz can Help with Your Quality Management System

1. Policies, Procedures, and Forms Documentation Examples
2. Document Version Control and Management Software
3. 1^st and 2^nd Party Audit Support
4. Quality System Management Support
5. Continuous Improvement Support

Call us to find out how Bizmanualz can help you with your Quality Management System today.

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Figure 1. PDCA Wheel

PDCA was developed by Dr. Walter Shewhart, one of the top ten quality gurus.  Dr. W. Edwards Deming preferred to call it PDSA or Plan, Do, Study, Act because he felt that “check” emphasized inspection over analysis.  Most people spend most of their time on the first two, Plan and Do, and tend to neglect the Check and Act parts.  An ISO 9001 QMS is a balanced system and to keep your ISO system working effectively you need to value each PDCA element equally and not favor one (i.e. Plan, Do) over the other (Check, Act).

We have written a lot about PDCA in the past.  Now let’s take a look at PDCA as it relates to ISO 9001 by breaking down the ISO 9001 standard into its main elements and then assigning them to each part of the PDCA process.  What you see is that each clause of the ISO 9001 standard contains a planning step, clause 7 is focused on doing, and clause 8 is focused on checking and acting.  What clause do you think people have the most trouble with?

Clause 8 is the most troublesome because it is focused on checking and acting.  People get more satisfaction in planning and doing then they do in checking and acting.  It is just human nature.  So, to master ISO 9001 you have to break the habit and budget more time for the checking and acting steps of clause 8.  Now let’s take a look at each PDCA element and see how ISO 9001 aligns with PDCA.

PDCA – PLAN

Your business should have an annual planning cycle that produces business plans that contain your: vision/mission/quality policy, operational objectives, budgets, preventive maintenance/actions, document standards, milestones, and new product/market/process introductions.  These are all planning elements.  ISO 9001 calls out these planning elements in seven areas.  Maintain QMS (4.1)

• Document QMS (4.2)
• Management Responsibilities (5)
• Manage Resources (6)
• Plan Product Realization (7.1)
• Control Monitor & Measurement Equipment (7.6)
• Preventive Action (8.5.3)

Most of these obviously belong here but what about Preventive Action (8.5.3)?  It comes from clause 8 (a check act clause) and sounds like an action step.  I put it here because preventive action is a plan to eliminate a defect that has not occurred.  Since we do not know if it will ever occur (with or without the preventive action being taken) then it sounds like a well intentioned plan.  If the defect occurs then the plan failed.  If it does not occur, then is this because we took action to prevent it?  If we cannot say this with certainty, then I would call it a plan.

PDCA – DO

Your do steps are more frequent, possible occurring on a monthly cycle that produces data records for measurement and analysis as a result of executing the annual plans. A lot of your doing is focused on clause 7, Product Realization. Most of your ISO records are produced in clause 7.

• Competence & Training (6.2.2)
• Design, Develop, Realize (7)
• Purchasing (7.4)
• Product & Service Provisions (7.5)

PDCA – CHECK

Once you have data from your doing steps you need to analyze or study the data (remember Deming’s PDSA reminding us to Plan, Do, Study, Act).  We do not want to check to see if a step was done or check to see if data was produced.  This is nothing but inspection.  We need to analyze and understand what the data is telling us.  We do this by converting the data into information.

The ISO 9001 standard clearly defines various check processes, which are cycles of measurement and analysis to determine how well the organization is executing the annual plans.

• Management Reviews (5.6)
• Monitor & Measuring (8.2)
• Customer Satisfaction (8.2.1)
• Internal Auditing (8.2.2)
• Data Analysis (8.4)

These are not one-time events.  These check processes continuously occur, which brings to mind trend lines on charts as a way to convert data into information.

A monthly or quarterly check event is very realistic, although many companies choose an annual audit, management review or customer satisfaction survey as a sufficient check on the ISO 9001 QMS.  I guess if you have an incredibly stable business model with little to no competition and a static environment, industry or market then maybe you can get away with an annual check.  Are there any businesses like that anymore?

PDCA – ACT

Actions taken — without undue delay– to close the gap, identified during measurement and analysis, between the annual plans and the data records produced during execution.   Of course there is an element of act in the management reviews because after you review the required inputs you are supposed to assign action items to individuals to take the necessary corrective actions (and maybe preventive actions).

ISO 9001 has a few clear action steps like isolating nonconforming product, taking corrective action, and maybe preventive action too.

• Nonconforming Product (8.3)
• Corrective Action (8.5.2)
• Preventive Action (8.5.3)?  ( I know some of you want this here)

ISO 9001 is not a single PDCA cycle.  It is actually a series of imbedded PDCA cycles.  Clause 7 is not just about doing.  Product realization is itself a PDCA cycle that starts with planning requirements and realization needs.  Next comes development (doing), development reviews (checking), and finally development revisions (actions).  This same PDCA cycle is occurring within training, documentation, purchasing, auditing, corrective action, etc.  The whole concept of continuous improvement relies on PDCA.

Check out Bizmanualz Internal Auditor Training programs for more information on building Lean ISO Quality systems, creating well-defined processes, or getting more value out of your quality management system.

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Now, what do you think of when you hear the term “lean“? Are you thinking “no fat”, as in Jack Sprat?  Do the words “efficient”, “effective”, or “no waste” come to mind?

If we put the two terms together, we get Lean ISO 9001, which means a quality management system (QMS) with no fat…an ISO 9001 system that is efficient, effective, and reduces waste within your organization. Who wouldn’t want that?

So, tell me…why do so many organizations implement huge ISO 9001 quality management systems, with hundreds of pages of policies, procedures, and forms, seemingly limitless bureaucracies, and ?

Few organizations are satisfied with the ISO 9001 systems they’ve built for themselves, yet they typically don’t want to change them. Why? Why stick with a system that causes more pain than it removes? Why not throw the old system out if it’s that bad, and replace it with a lean ISO quality system? Think of this: a lean quality management system — one that’s a mere dozen pages or so of easy-to-follow procedures, rules, and requirements, a minimum number of uncluttered forms, and no bureaucracy, which means you spend much less time maintaining your ISO 9001 QMS in top shape.

Easily Create a Lean ISO Quality System

Lean Management System Dashboard

It might be easier than you think to create a lean ISO quality system: mix one part ISO with two parts lean and you get a great quality system. Really, ISO is pretty straightforward once you introduce lean thinking into your organization.  Add lean kaizen improvement events for your corrective and preventive actions, lean standard work to create lean procedures, lean value stream mapping to define your processes, a lean dashboard to track your quality objectives, and a lean quality policy focused on your customer.

Starting with lean makes a ISO 9001 quality system implementation simple — certainly, much easier than trying to introduce a Six Sigma (DMAIC) process into your organization. Once you get lean, you’ll get ISO 9001 as well. Both are aimed at producing the same result — more satisfied customers.

To sum it up, don’t get started on the wrong foot by trying to design and implement a quality management system without Lean. Think of “a QMS without Lean” as something like “building an airplane from scratch”. It could be done, buy why would you?  Start with lean thinking and make getting your ISO 9001 registration a piece of cake.  Lean ISO quality is the way to go.

* * * * * * *

Need help “leaning out” your ISO 9001 Quality Management System?  Contact Bizmanualz to learn how you, too, can have a Lean ISO Quality system of your very own.

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