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Process Improvement with a Quality Management Plan
A Lean ISO 9001 QMS gets rid of the waste and provides organizational improvement
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What can a Quality System do for you?
Problem
Ardent Outdoors was successfully developing high-end spinning and casting reels and accessories built with quality and American craftsmanship.
In 2007, Ardent President and CEO Michael Brooks and his staff planned for an increase in sales, and to expand their number of products and number of employees. But they realized that any additional growth in production would require some kind of organization improvement.
Because each of the company’s reels is handmade—a value unique in the industry that Brooks did not want to compromise—rates of inconsistency among products could be high. And that inconsistency would be compounded by a more demanding production schedule resulting from business growth.
Approach
Ardent approached Bizmanualz to help plot a strategy for product growth and increased consistency.
“For me, consistency is quality,” Brooks said.
If Brooks intended to create production growth and maintain that quality, Ardent needed to focus their efforts on quality management to increase consistency.
Steve, our operational improvement consultant, assessed the company’s areas for organization improvement and created a game plan to address the problems.
He estimated that the cumulative consistency of all production—assembly, testing, design, supplies, etc.—was only 30 percent. The goal was to increase that cumulative level to at least 50 percent.
Solution
Working with management, Steve established three organization improvement areas that would dramatically increase consistency: assembly processing, document control and quality engineering.
He listed the action items in each area that would lead to overall consistency. For instance, to improve operations in assembly processing, Steve showed factory leadership how process changes—such as developing job aids, developing tooling and fixtures, improving the floor layout, labeling bins for defective parts, and relocating extra inventory –would improve Ardent’s bottom line and increase production capability.
And it did.
Results
Steve estimated that organization improvement saved the company 30 work minutes per day, per employee, which translates to saving 130 man hours per year, per employee.
Within three months, Steve led the team to more than double their cumulative consistency. And in 2008, Ardent’s production increased dramatically when Alton Jones used Ardent’s XS1000 bait casting reel to win the Bassmaster Classic. Even with the unexpected spike in sales, the company was able to maintain its production growth and consistency.
"With Steve’s help, we were able to handle the increase in production smoothly and effectively," Brooks said. "After working with Bizmanualz, our consistency increased, we cut waste, and we saved money."
- 10 Easy Steps to Building a Quality Management System
Whether you realize it or not, the management system you are using is a quality management system. So why not do it right and build a QMS to produce products with real quality. - What Are The Top Ten Preventive Actions
Many people struggle with just what a preventive action looks like and how it differs from a corrective action. - What are the Top Ten Quality Manager Job Description Responsibilities?
As the Quality Manager you are responsible for Quality Management System (QMS) compliance.
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