Why? Why should anyone consider "certain issues" which perhaps they had never even imagined before or which were probably established although not systematically?
For example:
The drafting of documents: a quality system requires the development of documents which provide a responses to the various chapters of the Standard. Probably the working procedure in your organisation was understood, but had not been defined in a document.
Advantages of documentation: having a basis which describes the working procedure in the organisation, responsibilities, identifying the various formats which have been established in order to provide evidence of the activities undertaken, etc.
In addition, this documentation provides a broad base for training and information for anyone who has newly arrived in the workforce, and which can be consulted in the event of doubts or conflicts of competences.
e.g. If my company sells ink cartridges and I have a quality management system, I have defined a procedure for how cartridge orders should be made, to which suppliers, who has to carry them out and approve them, etc. And if on top of that a person comes in to assist me in the supplies department, I can give them the corresponding procedure so that they can understand how the system works and they can come and help me from time to time.
Drawback: If I do not properly document what I am doing and describe how I would like things to be done, the documentation will probably set several unrealistic limits for me which are very difficult to meet.
Measurement: a quality system requires the establishment of measures in order to be able to check your development of the process and whether the service or product which you supply complies with requirements or not.
Advantages: measuring makes it possible to obtain data in order to be able to react and to be proactive (by collecting data on what is happening, we can take steps before a disaster happens). It enables the organisation to find out where its "bottlenecks" are. To measure is to improve.
Drawbacks: when we establish measurements and we don't really know what to measure, two things can happen:
1. The established measurement is difficult to achieve, i.e. the measurement objective may be correct, but the measuring system is so laborious that in the end the data does not provide any real information
2. We measure something which is not relevant to the process as a whole or does not provide any added value, so that we focus our efforts on non-critical issues.
e.g. in my ink cartridge sales process, I can measure how fast the order is sent to the customer. Great! I am attempting to check a variable which affects my customer, but if the data is always the same and I focus only on this and not on the many errors in the order when I send it, the final measurement doesn't provide me with any added value.
Standardising criteria: the development of a quality system means that the organisation is thinking abut the standardisation of criteria so that everyone shares the same vision.
Advantages: everyone in the organisation has a single vision of how to act and resolve problems.
Drawbacks: if these criteria are not clear or are too strict, innovation in the organisation may not exist and we always offer the same solutions to old problems.
Studying customer satisfaction: knowing how our customers perceive our organisation is another requirement for a Quality Management System.
Advantages: the information we obtain from our customers shows us whether we really are giving the image that we intend to, of if our customers are really happy with our organisation.
Drawbacks: knowing what our customers think can give us unexpected information about our organisation, and it is at this point that we have to act rather than forgetting about it.
e.g. if my ink cartridge company conducts a survey among its customers so that they can give their opinions on the service provided to them, my product, my way of organising my work, etc. and I discover that they are not happy with the delivery lead times (they are too long) I have to take steps on this issue and not wait until the make a complaint.
And of course we should not forget all of these great advantages in commercial and strategic terms which are offered by a certified Quality Management System:
- Image in the market.
- Guarantee among clients.
- Diversification of business.
The advantages of a Quality Management System are many and varied, but in order to discover them there is no better way than to step into this world, as "NOTHING VENTURED, NOTHING GAINED".
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