During the exit meeting of your certification audit, the words should be uttered….’and it gives me great pleasure to recommend your company for certification to ISO 9001. Congratulations.’
Oh yeah baby. I can almost hear your thought processes. Your shoulders relax, your head stops throbbing and you can almost see the back of your friendly auditing team leaving the premises. It was all worth it. Sure there are findings and recommendations but the end result is ‘recommendation’ for certification.
Just a quick note. No certification body grants certification on the day. JAZANZ just doesn’t allow it. It must go through compliance audit at the CB back office before a certificate is granted. Having said that…..let the celebrations begin. Get a hold of your internal distribution list and blast them with the news. Make sure you highlight who contributed, who was audited and that you will speak with the responsible people in due course. Just make it light and positive. But issue a warning to those who like to embellish. Clearly state, that you have been recommended not granted certification.
Next step, is to contact all of your customers and suppliers. Tell them of the recommendation. Or wait the 5 days (Global-Mark) or up 10 weeks (some others) to clearly state you have achieved certification.
Why not organise for the CB or a local dignitary to come and award the certificate. Throw a BBQ, harbour cruise or just have pizza at your next Management Review meeting. Just do something. You deserve it.
Monday, 23 April 2012
Tuesday, 10 April 2012
Customer Related Processes – Part
Wow, that is some good quality speak. Well not really but in conjunction with the three sub clauses; 7.2.1 Determination of requirements related to the product; 7.2.2 Review of requirements related to the product, 7.2.3. Customer communication is surely has drifted into quality speak. Just remember that in all these cases, product means service as well. Today’s blog is an overview and some comments on 7.2.1. I will cover 7.2.2 and 7.2.3 in the next blog.
Really, all we are trying to achieve from this clause and it’s sub clauses is how do we interact with that most troublesome of all beasts – the customer. The sub clauses actually set it out pretty well. Find out what the customer wants, check that they really want it and then tell them about the first two steps. Pretty easy. There are of course a number of points to each of the sub clauses that you need to address, but if you get the intent right, you should do well. And so on to the first sub clause.
Here is the cut and paste; 7.2.1 Determination of requirements related to the product. The company must determine; a) requirements specified by the customer, including the requirements for delivery and post-delivery activities; b) requirements not stated by the customer but necessary for specified or intended use, where known; c) statutory and regulatory requirements related to the product, and d) any additional requirements determined by the company. Quick note in d), the additional requirements as determined by you, not the customer.
a) and c) are self-explanatory and if you have been in business for any length of time, you probably have these down pat. b) is a doozy. You have to try and anticipate what they want, even when they don’t know what they want but because you are the product / service expert, you need to inform them of what they want. A bit like explaining terms, technical specs and so forth. Thank goodness for the ‘where known’ at the end of b). Because if you do not know what the customer don’t know or won’t tell you, then how can you be expected to deal with the blah, blah, blah. I suppose it is a bit like when you buy a computer from the US, there is always a checklist of questions concerning that you are only going to use the machine for good and not evil. The d) is an interesting bit of bumpf with you once again trying to outguess the customer with any particular needs or conditions which I think could have been merged into a) but hen that’s another blog I suppose. Stay tuned.
Really, all we are trying to achieve from this clause and it’s sub clauses is how do we interact with that most troublesome of all beasts – the customer. The sub clauses actually set it out pretty well. Find out what the customer wants, check that they really want it and then tell them about the first two steps. Pretty easy. There are of course a number of points to each of the sub clauses that you need to address, but if you get the intent right, you should do well. And so on to the first sub clause.
Here is the cut and paste; 7.2.1 Determination of requirements related to the product. The company must determine; a) requirements specified by the customer, including the requirements for delivery and post-delivery activities; b) requirements not stated by the customer but necessary for specified or intended use, where known; c) statutory and regulatory requirements related to the product, and d) any additional requirements determined by the company. Quick note in d), the additional requirements as determined by you, not the customer.
a) and c) are self-explanatory and if you have been in business for any length of time, you probably have these down pat. b) is a doozy. You have to try and anticipate what they want, even when they don’t know what they want but because you are the product / service expert, you need to inform them of what they want. A bit like explaining terms, technical specs and so forth. Thank goodness for the ‘where known’ at the end of b). Because if you do not know what the customer don’t know or won’t tell you, then how can you be expected to deal with the blah, blah, blah. I suppose it is a bit like when you buy a computer from the US, there is always a checklist of questions concerning that you are only going to use the machine for good and not evil. The d) is an interesting bit of bumpf with you once again trying to outguess the customer with any particular needs or conditions which I think could have been merged into a) but hen that’s another blog I suppose. Stay tuned.
Monday, 2 April 2012
Product Realisation
Clause 7 of the standard is product realisation and it is the only clause in the standard that you can seek exclusions. When seeking exclusions for a quality management system or a certification, you cannot just pick and choose to suit. If your company designs, then you need to include design. If they purchase, you need to include purchasing.
Some say, that if it does not have a direct impact on the product or service then you can exclude it. However, I venture to say that any aspect of your business will have an impact on your product or service do don’t seek exclusions unless it is absolutely necessary. In fact, if you are implementing a quality management system for continuous improvement and customer focus, then include all of your business aspects so as there is not a ‘rule for some and not for others’ mentality.
My thoughts is that the only real exclusions that should ever be sort is design control or test equipment and I will deal with each in forthcoming blogs. Just remember, if you seek an exclusion you will need to provide evidence and a justification for seeking an exclusion. To ensure transparency, such justifications should be clearly stated in prominent documentation such as the quality manual or even the quality policy, just make sure it is readily available when requested.
Some say, that if it does not have a direct impact on the product or service then you can exclude it. However, I venture to say that any aspect of your business will have an impact on your product or service do don’t seek exclusions unless it is absolutely necessary. In fact, if you are implementing a quality management system for continuous improvement and customer focus, then include all of your business aspects so as there is not a ‘rule for some and not for others’ mentality.
My thoughts is that the only real exclusions that should ever be sort is design control or test equipment and I will deal with each in forthcoming blogs. Just remember, if you seek an exclusion you will need to provide evidence and a justification for seeking an exclusion. To ensure transparency, such justifications should be clearly stated in prominent documentation such as the quality manual or even the quality policy, just make sure it is readily available when requested.
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