Articles in the "Strategic Process Improvement" Category
Strategic Process Improvement applies to all of your company’s business and management processes. Browse through our list of Strategic Process Improvement articles for information and advice on all of our consulting concepts: Quality Management, Value Proposition, Lead Generation and Quality Training, as well as case studies on our successful consulting engagements.
Lean thinking has been popularized by companies like Toyota, Apple, Dell, and many others. But will practicing lean thinking produce a competitive advantage?
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Author: Chris Anderson Published on: January 9th, 2012
Categories: Business Management & Operations, Lean Implementation
There are two types of actions in an ISO 9001 Quality Management System: Corrective action and preventive action. Many people struggle with just what a preventive action looks like and how it differs from a corrective action. What’s funny about this discussion is how everyone tries to explain the difference as merely an interpretation of the words “occurrence” and “potential”.
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
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Author: Chris Anderson Published on: December 2nd, 2011
Categories: ISO Quality Management, Top 10
Some people think that you can only implement lean in manufacturing. What about in an office area like Human Resources (HR)? Can you implement lean in HR?
Fist you have to ask yourself what does HR do? HR’s function is to support hiring and termination, training and development, benefit programs, HR compliance-safety and their own improvement projects. There are five topics to discuss.
Author: Chris Anderson Published on: October 12th, 2011
Categories: Human Resources, Lean Implementation
As the Quality Manager you are responsible for Quality Management System (QMS) compliance. In other words, you must manage all company-wide, quality policies, procedures, processes, programs, and practices, to assure the company of continuous conformance with appropriate standards and regulations. In a smaller company you may also be the document control manager, quality auditor, and process improvement specialist.
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Author: Chris Anderson Published on: June 29th, 2011
Categories: ISO Quality Management
Developing an ISO 9001 Quality Management System (QMS) requires a lot of effort to create a system, change employee behavior (management and workers), and obtain the desired results. Many companies have successfully built an ISO QMS, passed their initial registration audit, and later failed to maintain all of the documents, records, and quality process activities. Creating an ISO QMS is one thing but maintaining it can be just as difficult for your organization.
Author: Chris Anderson Published on: June 17th, 2011
Categories: ISO Quality Management, ISO Quality Standards, Lean Implementation, Quality Training
PDCA (Plan, Do, Check, Act) Cycles refers to the PDCA wheel (Figure 1) and the continuous motion that PDCA requires. PDCA is not as easy as it sounds but, if you are interested in ISO 9001 Quality Management Systems (QMS), then you will find that PDCA cycles are the foundation for all ISO 9001 cycles. Master PDCA and you will become the master of your ISO 9001 QMS.
Author: Chris Anderson Published on: June 7th, 2011
Categories: ISO Quality Management, ISO Quality Standards
What is the first thing you think of when you hear the term “ISO 9001“? Lengthy policies, complicated procedures, and miles of forms to fill out? A bureaucracy that rivals the US government in size and complexity? Intense, week-long audits that make waterboarding seem like spa therapy? You may be misinformed — ISO 9001 is based on sound business practices and is designed to help your organization improve incrementally.
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?
Author: Chris Anderson Published on: May 25th, 2011
Categories: ISO Quality Management, Lean Implementation, Process Management
Sounds easy in principle, doesn’t it? Just plan your work and work your plan. So, why is “plan-do-check-act” so difficult in practice? Using the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) method is like climbing a hill: it starts out easy but gets harder the higher up you go.
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Author: Chris Anderson Published on: February 22nd, 2011
Categories: Business Management & Operations, ISO Quality Management
If you’re typical of management, you’re probably thinking you already understand basic strategy. You pick a market, define your customer, and develop methods to reach your customer. Simple, right?
But Is Management Strategy That Simple?
No, it isn’t, and here’s why.
Author: Chris Anderson Published on: January 31st, 2011
Categories: Business Management & Operations, Strategic Process Improvement
Most of us believe our companies have adequate “web presence”, considering the time and money we spend. We have a web site (Figure 1) — maybe it’s not on a level with the big consumer companies, but it tells visitors all they need to know about our company and our products/services, and it’s user-friendly.
Author: Steve Flick Published on: November 15th, 2010
Categories: Business Management & Operations, Computer & IT Policies, Strategic Process Improvement
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