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. 

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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, Missouri, 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 continually improve its ability to assist business owners achieve the growth they envision. 

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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:

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Implementing a Quality Management System (QMS) that complies with ISO 9001 requirements can be challenging.  That’s why a useful approach may be to implement the QMS in phases, where you focus on different elements of meeting the ISO 9001 Standard in progressive stages. 

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Many companies appear to run relatively smoothly under the status quo, so they may not think about organization improvement. Minor product inconsistencies or customer complaints are normal, and the owners might think that overhauling an entire system to save a little money might not be worth it. But those same business owners would be surprised to learn that a few simple process changes and a small amount of effort can save thousands of dollars through cutting waste and improving customer quality.

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Question of the month:  Does complying with the ISO 9001 Standard have to be a “document nightmare?”

The old adage frequently applied to ISO 9001 is “Say what you do and do what you say.”  Some organizations seem to take this to mean “Write down everything you do,” but that is really not required by the standard.  The actual requirement is that processes are well-defined and responsibilities clearly communicated.  This can be accomplished through a lot of methods that require little documentation, such as training. 

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In the two previous articles of this series we discussed two important aspects of a Lean ISO 9001 Quality Management System: a Lean Quality Manual and Lean Quality Management System (QMS) Procedures. But what about other documentation that may be needed?

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In last week’s article I attempted to convince you of the value and sense of a Lean Quality Manual. But how useful is a Lean Quality Manual if the Quality Management System (QMS) procedures are burdensome books, with tons of detail but little real value?

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Lean ISO 9001? To many of you this will seem like a contradiction in terms. The term Lean and ISO 9001 are not generally used together, but why not? Does a Quality Management System (QMS) have to be complicated and cumbersome?

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Question of the month: How can implementing a Quality Management System based on ISO 9001 improve your business, organization, or department?

Frequently the ISO 9001 Standard is perceived to be complicated and heavy on documentation requirements. These perceptions are not necessarily accurate. The ISO 9001 Standard is actually very straightforward with simple requirements for procedures and records. The ultimate goal, however, of implementing ISO 9001 should be to create an organization that continually improves.

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