With the implementation of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX), finance and accounting departments have scrambled in recent years to put in place internal control systems as required by SOX section 404. Compliance with SOX and SEC regulations are certainly good reasons for companies to create an internal control system. Small and medium size business (SMB) owners might wonder, though, how this applies to them or helps improve their business metrics. Perhaps you have a few investors or creditors and need to produce financial statements, but you don’t have to worry about complying with SEC or SOX regulations. Or do you?

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At Bizmanualz we are a strong advocate of using the ISO 9001 Quality Management System (QMS) as a business improvement tool. We feel the emphasis on the process approach and continual improvement are important foundations for effective management.

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Last week we brought up the topic of why we need procedures. While some would answer this question by providing very long lists of reasons why, these lists sometimes aren’t useful. They are too long to really remember and absorb, plus there is too much overlap and redundancy. I, however, listed four very basic reasons that I feel demonstrate why we should develop procedures

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“Why do we need policies and procedures?”  Have you heard that question before?  Perhaps you were even the one asking it.  How happy were you with the answer you gave, or with the one you received?  Frequently people struggle to give a clear and meaningful response to such an obvious question. 

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The articles in September were intended to give you glimpses of developments at Bizmanualz. Our first article was about the newly redesigned Internal Auditor class. The next article talked about our new learning center and last week’s article covered the release of the Spanish ISO 22000 Procedures Manual.

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Our mission at Bizmanualz is to help other businesses succeed. Our product line of policies and procedures manuals, business process training, and business consulting are all geared toward helping organizations realize their vision and mission, and then implementing these over-arching principles operationally through alignment and control of internal processes in order to achieve continual improvement and reach important goals.

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“I am here to audit you.”  That phrase can strike fear in most of us, thanks in part to our good friends at the IRS.  In the business world as well, those five words can send a chill down the spine of everyone from the Finance VP to the shipping department clerk.  But it shouldn’t. 

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Question of the month: How can a Kaizen program help a company in its improvement journey?

At Bizmanualz, our mission is to help businesses and organizations improve by helping them implement innovative techniques and proven best practices. That philosophy carries through to our manuals, our training classes, and our consulting efforts.

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Let’s say, just prior to taking a commercial flight, that you are talking to your pilot and discussing the technical aspects of the trip. During the discussion, you learn that the plane only has one instrument gauge – an air speed meter. “We just like to focus on one thing, and be really good at it,” explained the pilot. “After we get really good at regulating our air speed,” the pilot continues,

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Last week we covered the positive results of using lean tools to reorganize a production area.   The Bizmanualz manual and CD production area achieved a 75% reduction in finished product inventory, a 50% reduction in production time, as well as improved machine capabilities and reduced errors.

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