We always start our Well-Defined Processes Class by asking the participants “what’s wrong with your policies and procedures where you work?” and we always get the same answers.  Students come to the class from different industries, companies, and geographies and yet we still get the same answers every time.

People tell us how hard it is to keep their procedures up-to-date.  Information gets stale fast and it is difficult keeping procedures current and relevant without becoming outdated.  One reason for this is that the procedures are too long in the first place.  If you have a 35-page procedure then, yes, it is difficult to keep all 35 pages up-to-date.  Especially, if the procedure is unclear, overly complicated or just too difficult to understand in the first place. »» Read more… »

Lean approach simplifies the ISO 9001:2008 quality procedures manual and clearly points out the required QMS procedures and records.

St. Louis, MO - June 18, 2009 - Bizmanualz, Inc., a business publications, training, and consulting company based in St. Louis, MO, today announced the release of the updated ISO 9001 Policies and Procedures Manual. The company has greatly improved its product by modeling its policies and procedures on the Deming (”Plan-Do-Check-Act”) Cycle. »» Read more… »

Historically, compliance has been the focus of most knowledge management systems.  Documenting business processes with policies and procedures is required by many standards such as for ISO 9000 Quality Management Systems, Sarbanes Oxley Accounting and Finance, or Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).  But if we look closer at the intent of these standards then we see that we should be more concerned with control, to improve quality or reduce the risk of failure. »» Read more… »

You have identified a problem, and you have made an immediate correction to fix it for now.  How do you make sure the same problem doesn’t happen again?

That is the role of corrective action in continual improvement of an organization.  In a reactive organization, we constantly react to problems in a corrective mode.  We make the short term fixes – over and over and over again.  »» Read more… »

We know that it is important to collect information and feedback from external and internal sources in order to identify problems and non-conformances.  But once you have found a problem, what steps do you take to resolve it? »» Read more… »

Corrective action is the theme for this month.  To start the series, let’s talk about where it all begins – inputs to the corrective action process. »» Read more… »

Lean Visual Management System cuts through the paperwork typical of ISO 9001:2008 quality certifications.

St. Louis, Mo. - April 24, 2009 - Bizmanualz, Inc., a business strategy consulting and quality publishing company based in Clayton, Mo., today announced the successful certification to ISO 9001:2008 for the design, development, realization, and delivery of its policy and procedure publications, training courses, and consulting services.  The certification demonstrates the Bizmanualz commitment to continuously improve its ability to assist business owners achieve the growth they envision.  »» Read more… »

Our topic this month is the importance of hearing the voice of the customer.  More importantly, we have been discussing ways of going beyond the activities most commonly used by organizations:  tracking complaints, handing out surveys, and asking customers for lists of specifications or requirements.  »» Read more… »

This month our theme is voice of the customer.  This is very coincidental because this is also the month we have undergone our ISO 9001 Certification audit (as anyone following our blog surely knows…).

The connection between these two items is the customer-centric nature of ISO 9001.  In fact, you could say that there are two overarching aims of the ISO 9001:2008 Quality Management System Requirements: »» Read more… »

Here is the story of two companies.  One company, Company A, is struggling.  It can’t seem to get potential customers to become actual customers.  Sales and revenue are way down.  The other company, Company B, is growing, even in this tough economy.  Sales are up, and new customers are regularly signing on the dotted line.

»» Read more… »