Are You Sure the Procedures Your Organization is Using Represent Your Organization’s Processes? Using Process Mapping Concepts to Develop Accurate Procedures

To work properly, procedures have to match the company processes, and each organization must have their own set of processes which should be different than that of their neighbor. Even when companies build or perform similar activities, each of them has different culture and details that will make them unique and therefore they will have …

Miriam Boudreaux June 25, 2010

We are Just a Service Company, Why Do They Need Us to be ISO 9001 Certified?

Are you a service provider selling project management services, engineering or IT services? Have you been asked more than once whether you are ISO 9001 certified and wonder what is all that about? Before you tell your prospective client they have an error on their forms, see why more and more organizations are demanding their …

Miriam Boudreaux May 28, 2010

Team reviewing an integrated ISO 9001 and C‑TPAT compliance dashboard

Combining ISO 9001 with C-TPAT Requirements: A Simple Approach to Building an Integrated Quality Management System

Sweet Challenge I was called to a prospective client to help them implement ISO 9001. They seemed very interested at improving their processes in order to increase their quality and revenues. After contract negotiations, we were given the green light and quickly began process mapping the company’s main functions. As we moved from process mapping …

Miriam Boudreaux April 16, 2010

Do You Feel Like Your Company is Acting Like a Chicken Without a Head? Find Out What Good Process Mapping Can Do for You!

What is Process Mapping Process mapping is an essential technique for identifying all the processes that take place in an organization as well as their interrelation so that it is easy to understand the sequence at which these processes take place. A good process map should be a high level map of how your organization …

Miriam Boudreaux February 19, 2010

Understanding the Background and New Approaches of ISO 9001

What’s the Difference? Series: ISO Goals vs. Targets vs. Objectives vs. KPI’s vs. Metrics

A Game of Words As an auditor I always ask employees to tell me whether they are familiar with the company Quality Objectives or not. Obviously I may not ask that as a straight question but rather something like this: How do you know if you are doing a good job? Has your company established …

Miriam Boudreaux January 22, 2010

This Certificate Smells Fishy! How to Find Out if an ISO Certificate is Forged or Valid.

I was recently at a meeting with some colleagues and the subject of forged certificates was brought up. We discussed the fact that some organizations do have the audacity of not just creating a fake certificate, but sometimes even wanting to change registrars. Seems odd? Later on, I was asked by a reader for some …

Miriam Boudreaux January 8, 2010

Are You Sure Your Torque Wrench is Capable of the Force You are Using It For? How to Determine Effectively the Equipment Needed for Your Monitoring and Measurement Activities

In case you are not sure if the equipment you are currently using for your monitoring and measuring activities is the most adequate equipment or if you are wondering why such as expensive tool is used to inspect a certain part, then it may be worth for you to understand tolerances, accuracy and what the …

Miriam Boudreaux December 11, 2009

Continual Improvement… It’s Not So Easy, a Caveman Could Not Do It!

When I started my career nearly 20 years ago, the world was a little different. People were still smoking in the workplace, Dilbert was in everybody’s desk and the quality program of the month was the joke du jour. Many things have changed since then for the goodness of the world and the quality of …

Miriam Boudreaux November 27, 2009

Mayday, Mayday…Where Did My Laptop Go?! Nine Basic Information Security Controls Any Company Should Implement

I’m sure you’ve heard of laptops being stolen, but have you heard of laptops being swapped? Lost or stolen laptops and the data they carry are just one of the disasters that may ail you or your organization one day. In reality, there are many more security incidents that can affect the security of your …

Miriam Boudreaux November 13, 2009

ISO and Other Quality Initiatives Can Improve Our Processes, But Can They Improve Our Sales?

When a quality management system is implemented, results are evident immediately: reduction in warranty cost, reduction in rework, reduction in scrap, higher profit margins, etc. Would you agree that ISO and other quality initiatives such as Lean, Six Sigma, 5S can significantly improve any company’s processes -if requirements are correctly implemented? Why, if you know …

Miriam Boudreaux October 30, 2009

When Top Management Believes, Breakthroughs Can Happen

Ok, so we’ve been certified to the ISO 9001 standard for the longest. Yes our processes are better, we have gotten new customers over the years because of the certification, and yes we track our objectives and customer satisfaction. But is there anything else left to be extracted out of our program and its recurrent …

Miriam Boudreaux October 16, 2009

The History Behind MXI-CON-HOU-SOP-2-009-A

Back when the ISO 9001 standard came about over 20 years ago, emphasis was on documentation and unfortunately not much on the organization’s processes. Although the standard was well intended it caused many companies to produce a chart similar to the one below: Most organizations had the exact same chart on their manuals and whether …

Miriam Boudreaux September 18, 2009

What Does Calibration and Approved Suppliers Have in Common?

When you think about equipment that is used for measuring and test activities, you think about important equipment that is used to pass/fail product but may not necessarily find correlation with suppliers. However this very equipment – whether is calibrated in-house or off-site – does involve a supply chain one way or the other and …

Miriam Boudreaux September 4, 2009

Was is Necessary to Revise ISO 9001:2000 to ISO 9001:2008?

Since the inception of the ISO 9001:2000 revision it was clear that this version of the standard was so robust and coherent that more people were able to understand its tremendous value and potential for improving a company’s overall processes rather than being a mere documentation guide. In fact the standard was so well written …

Miriam Boudreaux August 28, 2009

How to Handle Out-Of-Calibration Equipment Appropriately

If you have ever found equipment that is out of calibration, then you know it is not something to take lightly. Whether you manufacture children’s toys or automobile tires, you know that the implications and ramifications of the decisions you make, can be devastating for your company. Although the requirements from the ISO 9001 standard …

Miriam Boudreaux August 21, 2009

Tips & Advice

Are You Sure the Procedures Your Organization is Using Represent Your Organization’s Processes? Using Process Mapping Concepts to Develop Accurate Procedures

We are Just a Service Company, Why Do They Need Us to be ISO 9001 Certified?

Combining ISO 9001 with C-TPAT Requirements: A Simple Approach to Building an Integrated Quality Management System

Do You Feel Like Your Company is Acting Like a Chicken Without a Head? Find Out What Good Process Mapping Can Do for You!

What’s the Difference? Series: ISO Goals vs. Targets vs. Objectives vs. KPI’s vs. Metrics

This Certificate Smells Fishy! How to Find Out if an ISO Certificate is Forged or Valid.

Are You Sure Your Torque Wrench is Capable of the Force You are Using It For? How to Determine Effectively the Equipment Needed for Your Monitoring and Measurement Activities

Continual Improvement… It’s Not So Easy, a Caveman Could Not Do It!

Mayday, Mayday…Where Did My Laptop Go?! Nine Basic Information Security Controls Any Company Should Implement

ISO and Other Quality Initiatives Can Improve Our Processes, But Can They Improve Our Sales?

When Top Management Believes, Breakthroughs Can Happen

The History Behind MXI-CON-HOU-SOP-2-009-A

What Does Calibration and Approved Suppliers Have in Common?

Was is Necessary to Revise ISO 9001:2000 to ISO 9001:2008?

How to Handle Out-Of-Calibration Equipment Appropriately

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