'Plan Do Check Act' Guidance
Publication of ISO 9001:2000 makes this an ideal time for organisations to plan what they want from their quality system.
ISO 9001:2000 contains little that is new for those who already regard quality as part of every process. In these organisations, quality objectives and targets are used to drive continual improvement, monitoring and measuring process performance is well established and business and operational plans include current and perceived future needs and expectations of customers.
The value of any review is that of challenging what exists, looking for ways to improve and exploit new opportunities. For example, ISO 9001:2000 prescribes only six documented procedures (*1) and leaves it to the organisation to decide how best to document the planning, operation and control of its processes (*2). This is an opportunity to reduce bureaucracy. I would not advocate the wholesale scrapping of procedures, but equally to not review their value would be remiss. For example, in LRQA Training Services our purchasing process is well documented and controlled through various forms, supplier records, designated authorities and specifications, and people are trained in the process. We may take the opportunity to dispense with the additional documented procedure and we may choose to keep it as a training/communication aid. However, it will be our decision not something we feel has been forced upon us.
Achieving customer satisfaction is the goal of the Standard (*3). The focus has moved away from quality through prevention of nonconformity and now addresses the need to manage all aspects of quality from customer requirements through to customer satisfaction. Hence the change in title from one of Quality Assurance to Quality Management.
The new Standard promotes the adoption of a process approach. Structuring a quality management system around organisation processes is nothing new. ISO 9001:2000 refers to the methodology known as "Plan-Do-Check-Act" (PDCA), which can be applied to all processes. Mapping the new Standard to the PDCA model can help to illustrate what is intended.
This figure shows a version of the basic model. Determining the goal is the starting point – what does the organisation want to be, what level of product or service will it offer, what is its market sector and customer base, what do customers want and what will differentiate it from its competitors? Goals need to be clearly defined and communicated throughout the organisation. All else cascades from this.
Aspirations need to become objectives, not only at the highest level but also wherever applicable throughout the organisation. The PDCA model then takes the aspiration to reality in a series of steps and iterations. For example, planning how to reach the goal, and once an approach has been decided, planning its implementation, how processes will need to operate in order to deliver desired outcomes, what resources will be required and what checks will be required to measure achievement of the goal. ISO 9001:2000 includes in this phase the need to plan the quality management system itself, i.e. how it will be documented, what resources will be needed, who will have responsibility for what and how the effectiveness of the management system will be evaluated and communicated.
Then comes the doing, i.e. implementing the planned approach which includes providing the necessary resources, operating processes as planned and taking measurements as planned. Next is the check stage, analysing and using the information gathered through the various measurements to determine whether the plan has achieved what it set out to do. Was it implemented as specified, were processes operated as planned, were the resources adequate and the training effective? When operated as planned, did processes prove capable of delivering the required output, are they delivering the planned level of product quality and are objectives and targets being achieved? Looking outside the organisation, how satisfied is the customer?
The fourth stage in the cycle is to act on the information available. The aim is to ensure the organisation is achieving what it set out to, and taking action to correct any deficiencies. That may entail correcting something which was not implemented as planned, adjusting the plan because it did not deliver what was required or catering for changes in circumstances. Even where everything has gone to plan the information may be used to bring about improvement.
The Management review process falls within the act phase of the cycle. Inputs to management review include the objectives and targets of the original plan, along with data gathered at the check phase. Management review should evaluate the effectiveness of the plan in enabling goals to be achieved. Did the organisation achieve what it set out to do, is the performance level sustainable, and is the original evaluation of what the organisation wants to be still valid? Are customers getting what they want, do they want more and what will continue to differentiate the organisation from its competitors. The output from management review should be a new set of goals, and so the cycle starts again.
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