Consulting Archives - Mireaux Management Solutions

January 21, 2014

Farmington Nights – API Spec Q2 Certification: Not for the Faint of Heart

On a beautiful January afternoon in Houston, I prepare to go to Farmington, New Mexico, a town of 45,000 that most people have never heard of. It’s 60 degrees and sunny in Houston...

October 23, 2013

Eenie, Meenie, Miney, Mo – Selecting the Right Registrar Isn’t Child’s Play

So you’ve made the decision to seek certification – congratulations! You’re on your way to strengthening the core processes that translate into quality improvement, greater operational efficiency, increased profitability and a purposeful customer focus ...

January 15, 2013

The AREs vs the WANNA-BEs

In this world, there are two types of organizations: those that are ISO certified, and those that want to be. Which one is your organization? We ARE ISO 9001 certified! Mireaux’s ISO 9001 Certificate of ...

January 14, 2013

What’s the Difference Series: Compliance vs Certification

Recently, one of our readers asked, “What does it mean when a company says they operate under a Quality Management System that is in compliance with ISO 9001:2000? I’m assuming they are not ISO certified. If not, isn’t this a claim that just anyone can make?” Right off the bat, the statement that company has ...

September 10, 2012

What is the Grandfather Clause in ISO, and When Should I Use It?

When implementing a new management system based on the ISO standards, whether it is a quality management system, environmental management system, information security management system, etc., ...

September 5, 2011

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Quality

So you have been in the Quality world for many years. Admit it, you are the underdog. No matter if the whole company revolves around you, you are not the Operations Manager nor are you the Sales Leader. You are the underdog. They like you when they need you and they spit you when they ...

June 6, 2011

If You Want Guaranteed Success, Then You Need Informal Assessments: Audits on Steroids

Have you ever wondered why the last Internal Audit or External Audit uncovered so many issues even though you thought everything was great? Are most of your nonconformities or corrective actions pointed out by external parties? If the answer to any of these questions is yes then what you may need in order to pass ...

October 30, 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 ...

July 31, 2009

Do You Need a Consultant to Achieve ISO 9001 Certification?

Well, a simple answer is no, you don’t need a consultant to achieve ISO 9001 certification. In fact many companies achieve ISO 9001 on their own, by appointing key employees to the task. The implications however of trying to implement a system on your own can be a set back to your business if resources ...

June 19, 2009

The Right Time to Implement ISO 9001?

Although ISO 9001 is a certification claimed by thousands of organizations all over the world, some companies still have a tough time taking the step to world class quality. We are too busy, we don’t have enough people, our customers don’t require it, we don’t need it, etc, etc. Let’s look together at the pros ...

June 5, 2009

Beginning the ISO 9001 Journey: The Quality Policy

Quality Policy The quality policy is meant to be a statement or a group of statements that reflects your organization’s culture. It does not necessarily have to repeat the sentences or paragraphs contained in the ISO 9001 standard nor include some words contained in the ISO standard, or much less be similar to another company’s ...