Article is from
Electrical & Mechanical Contractor
June 2001, p. 49

Articles & Info

Quality Management

In the first of a new bimonthly series covering management systems, Chris Ottaway outlines the changes that a new quality assurance standard will bring.

There are many advantages to companies maintaining a documented management system, irrespective of certification status:

• a consistent approach to activities - avoiding different ways of working from members of staff in the same department;
• a company standard may identify duplication of activities or personnel;
• ease of training and inducting new members of staff;
• a management benchmark for improvement analysis.

If third party certification is achieved, there are more benefits:

• professional image to existing and future clients;
• an excellent marketing tool;
• access to approved lists with, hopefully, more work.

Management systems should be simple and to the point. Too many companies try to turn it into rocket science by producing thick, cumbersome documents, which never get fully read and confuse everyone after the first page.

Quite simply, a procedure should say what to do in terminology that is acceptable to everyone in the company. This can include flow charts and/or diagrams as well as written procedures.

Primarily, management systems cover:

• quality assurance;
• environmental management;
• health and safety.

Systems can be stand-alone - covering one of these topics - or integrated, where two or three topics are combined.

I will be looking at the other topics in later issues, but first let's examine the new quality management standard BS EN ISO 9001: 2000.

Companies that currently have a quality assurance certificate and are registered by a UKAS-accredited third party certification body will be expected to change their management system to comply with the new standard - but not immediately.

All certification bodies will give their clients a period of time to address the new requirements and prepare for the changeover - a period of two years is the most common being quoted- This gives time for analysis and planning before producing and issuing the new documented system.

Third party certification to both the new and die old standards (BS EN ISO 9000: 1994 series) will run in parallel until 3.1 December 2003. However, if you are preparing for third party certification it would make sense to be assessed to the new standard and avoid the changeover period (which will obviously involve time and money).

Standard requirements
The new standard adopts a process approach, with a balance between procedures and competencies. With the last quality standard there was a perception that.a detailed description was needed of every activity undertaken. The new quality standard is much easier for companies to comply with.

• quality management system - the clause addresses the general documents make up of a typical system. It addresses general system requirements, through to records control;
• management responsibility - this clause is quality assurance specific, identifying all areas of qa management, from commitment and policy production to setting quality objectives and subsequent review of the system;
• resource management - this addresses human resources and training, through to the company infrastructure and the working environment;
• product realisation - here all process activities are addressed;
• measurement, analysis and improvement - this addresses all measurements required to monitor an organisation's performance, from customer satisfaction to internal audit.

So what's changed?
The most significant changes in .the new standard are:

• more emphasis on a process-related sequence;
• a continual improvement requirement;
• more focus and emphasis on top management;
• the need for monitoring of customer satisfaction;
• less emphasis on documentation, more emphasis on process application;
• changes in terminology;
• compatibility with BS EN ISO 14001: 1996 Environmental management systems;
• reference to established quality management techniques.

The new standard is part of the following group:

• BS EN ISO 9000: 2000 - Quality management systems: concepts and vocabulary;
• BS EN ISO 9001: 2000 - Quality management systems: requirements;
• BS EN ISO 9004: 2000 - Quality management systems: guidance for performan ce improvement.

Companies will be assessed against BS EN ISO 9001, with the other two acting as support standards.

So what do I do now?
Whether you are a certified company or one preparing for assessment, you will have to get a copy of the new standard.

Familiarise yourself with the requirements of the standard and start thinking about how you as a business can monitor customer feedback and introduce continual improvement measurements. Think about what you can measure to gauge improvement in operations - consider Key performance Indicators and ask yourself what it would be useful to measure and monitor.

Don't fall into the trap of thinking that all you have to do is send all your customers a satisfaction questionnaire - there's a lot more to it than that.

...

Chris Ottaway is md of Ortaway & Associates. The company specialises in quality, environmental and safety consultancy. Telephone 020 7355 5149.