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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
How to Boost Your Preventive Action Program

One difficult task of many companies is the ability to instill in its employees the mindset of error or problem prevention in order to prevent problems or mistakes from happening and to improve the processes in place. This consequently translates into a low to none ratio of preventive actions against corrective actions issued which may …
How to Pass an ISO Audit?

I’ve worked with several companies over the years and dealt with different individuals, different processes and different levels of ISO 9000 understanding. However when an organization is getting ready to apply for ISO 9000 certification, the question remains: “Are we going to pass the audit? Similar questions I have been asked are: How many of …
Effective Supplier Evaluation & Reevaluation – Part 2

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Effective Evaluation & Reevaluation of Suppliers – Part 1

The ISO 9001standard’s requirements in regards to suppliers are very short and concise but carry a lot of punch. This requirement can be very deceiving and in fact is very often misinterpreted and carried out poorly or partially. By implementing this clause correctly, an organization will get the full extent of the benefits sought out …
Electronic Systems Do Work! Let Your Corrective and Preventive Action System Work for You

I still remember it, it was 1997 and the company had just hang a new projector from the ceiling. As with every new tool, I jumped on the bandwagon and switched from slides to using the PC and projector to show my presentation. Unfortunately, Murphy was in the meeting too and my presentation along with…

