To begin with, you need to document:

• The rules your employees are meant to follow (policies)
• The way you work (procedures)
• How you control your processes
• Communication within the organisation
• Communication with customers
• Satisfying customers and handling complaints

Secondly, you need to ensure that the documentation accurately explains how the organisation works. This may require evaluating whether or not the documentation or processes should be modified and identifying areas where training is required. Some new procedures may be appropriate, along with discussion within key areas of the organisation to identify where improvements can be introduced and a method for suggesting and evaluating improvements. Once the documentation is complete, an internal audit is required to compare the documentation to the work processes and identify where they don’t agree (non-conformances). Finally management needs to evaluate the entire process and review the policies to ensure that the quality management system is providing continual improvement to the organisation.

Some organisations nominate one or more employees to implement policies and procedures without considering the investigation and research involved. This adds to the workload and stress of those employees and may reach a point where balancing their normal duties with the quality assurance requirements may cause dissatisfaction in their role or disharmony with other employees. When this happens employees often associate the term “quality” with additional work and effort to achieve the same result they attained previously. The benefits of implementing a quality management system usually come later, once the initial time and effort has been expended.

Benefits

The benefits of implementing a quality management system include:

• Improved efficiency, productivity and therefore profitability
• Enhanced staff morale and job satisfaction
• Increased customer satisfaction and referrals
• Better product control, involving less re-work

A structured approach to implementing a system of policies and procedures to attain ISO 9001 quality assurance certification ensures effective results. Once management has determined the benefits available, employees need guidance, encouragement and sometimes training to engage in the implementation process and become involved.

Rajan Enterprises provides quality assurance consulting services to assist in this process.

Gap Analysis

Our consultants will review the documentation you have in place and discuss work processes with your employees to determine what you need before you can apply for quality assurance certification. In some cases this may only involve a discussion with supervisors. In larger organisations or where few documented processes exist, we may need to interview a number of employees to gain insight into how the organisation conducts its daily work. Once our investigation is complete, we provide you with a Gap Analysis Report that details:

• Each clause of the Quality Standard
• ow your organisation meets the requirements
• Documentation that needs to be added to meet the requirements
• Processes that need to be introduced or refined
• An obligation-free proposal to assist you to overcome the gap and apply for ISO 9001 quality certification

Quality Consulting

For an organisation that has little or no documentation in place, our consultants are available to review the way your people conduct their daily work to prepare a business manual that complies with the Quality Standard. Rajan Enterprises has functional templates and forms that are readily adapted to your organisation. Our consultants are experienced in documenting processes specific to each organisation.

A consultant may undertake all or part of a quality management system implementation project, including:

• Meeting with your management team
• Documenting your policies and procedures
• Suggesting improvements and an improvement process
• Preparing job descriptions for each position within the organisation
• Conducting an internal audit
• Arranging an ISO 9001 certification audit

Our proven business manual contains many policies and procedures that apply to most organisations and can readily be modified. Others can be added with ease and we can assist your employees to maintain the systems we implement. Our forms and templates are provided where appropriate and meet requirements for version control, record keeping, improvements and non-conformances.

Although we prefer to work with a quality project team to review existing documentation, policies and procedures, we understand that this is not always possible. Where a team is established, regular meetings will be held for these reviews and each will consider a clause of the ISO 9001 Standard. This will provide your team with the skills and expertise to maintain the quality management system after the project is complete. If your organisation doesn’t have people available, our consultants can complete the implementation project and then pass on the tools to maintain the system. Alternatively, we may be engaged as needed to audit and maintain the quality management system.

To learn more about how we can improve your business processes, please call today.