As you fill out one of your endless forms, have you ever asked yourself why you are doing it, only to remember that it is needed for ISO? That should never be the answer; every single activity should be adding value to your organization. Yes, ISO certainly has requirements that must be complied with, but I would argue that if implemented correctly, they each make the business better.
When I work with a client, every single procedure, work instruction, form, checklist, log and task is filtered through the TRAC foundational philosophy of “does this add value to the organization?” If it does not, it either goes away or is improved so that it does add value.
Eliminating non value add activities is not just related to manufacturing operations; it equally applies to your support functions and documentation.
Give me a call so we can make the system work for you.
920-841-3478
Steve@TheRightApproachConsulting.com
September 2018. That is the date every company in the world must be transitioned to ISO 2015. That is the best-case scenario; the bad news is that if your current certificate expires after March 2018, you have even less time.
Remember, you are competing with over a million companies for registrar time, and if you wait too long, you will be left behind.
The good news is that I can help you transition in 6 months, guaranteed. But you need to start now, so don’t wait to give me a call.
Tick tock
920-841-3478
Steve@TheRightApproachConsulting.com
Every year, decades of experience walk out the door of our companies as the aging workforce retires, or employees move on to bigger and better things. Unfortunately, too often our training programs are not aligned to capture the experience, tips and techniques that exist only in the heads of our veteran workers. Capturing this tribal knowledge is both an art, and a science, but a critical task that can be achieved with a robust training program.
While assessing >1,000 manufacturing companies over the past couple of decades, it has been amazing to observe how often training is an afterthought in many organizations. And the longer a company has been in business; the more this seems to apply. Equally amazing is that the biggest offenders of this are the companies that overuse the sound bite “Our most important asset is our people”. When you really dig into the process and peel back the onion, it is clear that their commitment to training is not commensurate with that statement. No matter what you call it: training, coaching, mentoring, etc., what we are really talking about is turning people into a competitive advantage.
A keystone of a world-class organization is the depth and breadth of the training program. Training can be defined as learning that is provided in order to improve performance on the present job. A well-managed program in a manufacturer can mean the difference between average, and outstanding, performance. Of course, the more complex the process, the more it takes on exponential importance.
Contact me to see how I can help you improve the organizational knowledge & training program in your QMS for ISO 2015 or AS9100 2016 as painlessly as possible in your company.
920-841-3478
Steve@TheRightApproachConsulting.com
If your company is like most, your QMS has morphed into an unwieldy, overgrown paper monster that gets bigger with every customer & registrar audit. Let me give you 3 compelling reasons to hire The Right Approach Consulting to upgrade your new & improved QMS with you.
- Simple is better. Period. This overlying TRAC foundational philosophy is how we help our clients improve the effectiveness of their QMS. Our typical procedure is 2-4 pages. No operator in their right mind will refer to, much less read, a 15-page procedure or work instruction. And if your operators aren’t using them to do their job, what is the point. Our clients typically experience a 20% – 45% reduction in their QMS documentation. Less procedures, less work instructions better forms. Duplication, crossover and unneeded information and verbiage add length to procedures and overly complicate them.
- Value add. Every single procedure, work instruction, form, checklist, log and task is filtered through the second TRAC foundational philosophy of “does this add value to the organization?” If it does not, it either goes away or is improved so that it does add value. Eliminating non value add activities is not just related to manufacturing operations; it equally applies to your documentation. We make the system work for you, instead of you working for the system. With many companies, everything they do is done just to meet their system requirements, regardless of whether the system is driving organizational improvement. Because companies often don’t really understand what is needed to meet international requirements, they overcompensate by adding redundant procedures, activities and tasks. Our in-depth understanding the international standards inside & out will assure development of a tight, effective QMS.
- 7-page Quality Manual. Yes, you read that right, and one of the 7-pages is for your company background and approvals! The third TRAC foundational philosophy of “only say it once” allows for a 7-page quality manual that will pass any ISO or AS audit. The average company’s quality manual is anywhere between 25-50 pages long. This is primarily due to not understanding the purpose of a quality manual. Auditors and customers don’t want a regurgitation of the international standard, or the cliff notes version of all your QMS procedures. The other major problem wit not following this TRAC philosophy, not only with the quality manual, but throughout your QMS, is that you are setting yourself up for audit findings. Having to constantly sync document and system changes in multiple documents because it is discussed/referenced in multiple locations is a QMS maintenance nightmare. And Capt. Edward A. Murphy, of Murphy’s Law fame, guarantees that the one place you miss syncing the change is the one that the auditor will find.
Contact me to see how TRAC can upgrade your QMS for ISO 2015, AS9100 2016 or just to improve your company. In six months. Guaranteed.
920-841-3478
Steve@TheRightApproachConsulting.com
I have a 100% success rate with dozens of companies, across numerous industries with my ISO 9001 & AS9100 quality systems. Whether this is your initial certification, or an upgrade to the new standard(s) revision, I guarantee certification with the QMS system we customize to your company. I also guarantee that this QMS transition can be accomplished in 6 months.
Benefits of a TRAc QMS:
- Common sense, streamlined approach to the QMS
- TRAc Filter for every process & document:
- Does it add value to the company?
- Simplification
- Clients average a 20% – 45% reduction in documentation
- 7-page Quality Manual
- Short, effective procedures & work instructions
- More visual, less words
- The system works for the company instead of the company working for the system
Fine Print Contingencies
- TRAc is hired to facilitate the transition/certification
- Timely collaboration, approval and implementation of processes by the client
- Client provides administrative assistance (update/maintenance of documentation)
Press release:
American Standard Circuits
For immediate release: 9/20/17
For more information contact Dan Beaulieu at 207-649-0879.
West Chicago, Illinois: American Standard Circuits CEO, Anaya Vardya announces that his company has achieved AS9100 Rev D.
AS9100 is the internationally recognized Quality Management System standard specific to the aerospace, aviation, and defense industries. This standard is strongly supported and adhered to by major aerospace OEMs and is becoming required by vendors within the supply chain on an increasing basis.
Additionally, AS9100 provides a uniformity that is missing from the multitude of standards that aerospace suppliers are currently required to meet and offers the opportunity for aerospace companies to implement a more effective, value-generating quality management system. It is widely considered the “gold standard” of all quality management systems.
Mr. Vardya commented, “This has been a complete team effort. Everyone worked very hard to achieve this coveted standard. We are very proud of all our associates at American Standard Circuits for all they have done in the past few years to elevate our company to the level it is today. This is a critical milestone in our quality journey, something that hopefully not just our aerospace customers, but all of our customers, will benefit from.”
About American Standard Circuits
American Standard Circuits (ASC) prides itself on being a total solutions provider, manufacturing quality rigid, metal-backed, RF/Microwave, flex, and rigid-flex PCBs for the medical, automotive, industrial, defense, and aerospace markets in volumes from test and prototypes to large production orders. ASC has the expertise to provide a wide variety of technologies in a time-critical environment. Their qualifications include AS9100 Rev D, ISO 9001:2015, MIL-PRF 31032, MIL-PRF-55110, MIL-PRF-50884 certification and ITAR registration. American Standard also holds many key patents for metal bonding processes. For more information about American Standard Circuits services or to ask one of their technology experts a question, click here.
To download American Standard Circuits new eBook, “The Printed Circuit Board Designer’s Guide to Flex and Rigid-Flex Fundamentals” visit their download site here.
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Contact me to see how I can help you implement an effective evaluation and improvement process in your QMS for ISO 2015 or AS9100 2016 as painlessly as possible in your company.
920-841-3478
I am sure everyone exhales a sigh of relief as we conclude the AS9100D “shall series”…
9.0 PERFORMANCE EVALUATION
Second to last in the standard is Performance Evaluation, which consists of 13 “shalls”, focusing on Monitoring, Measuring, Evaluation and Analysis, Internal Audits and Management Review.
Plain English Translation
Companies need to determine what needs to be monitored and measured; how you will perform this, and how it will be analyzed. The key is that a metric needs to be in place for each core QMS Process (as identified in your quality manual), with goals established and actions taken when they are missed. The organization shall evaluate the performance and the effectiveness of the quality management system. This is done through internal auditing, customer feedback and the management review process.
10.0 IMPROVEMENT
Wrapping up the standard is Improvement, which consists of only 7 “shalls”, focusing on Nonconformance and Corrective Action, and Continual Improvement.
Plain English Translation
Nonconformance under this section is related to how it is handled from a corrective action standpoint; what triggers it, root cause analysis and correction. Preventive Action has been removed, but the expectation is that Continual Improvement activities have replaced it. improvement teams, improvement projects, etc. are expected to react to opportunities identified during review of the data generated during the Performance Evaluation process.
Contact me to see how I can help you implement an effective evaluation and improvement process in your QMS for ISO 2015 or AS9100 2016 as painlessly as possible in your company.
920-841-3478
Steve@TheRightApproachConsulting.com
Continuing with my GBU human interest stories that highlight folks that have made both exceptionally fortuitous decisions, as well as those that will never be inducted into the Good Decision Hall of Fame. I hope you enjoy them.
The Good: Matt Mullenweg started WordPress, which now powers >25 percent of the Web
Mullenweg dropped out of the University of Houston in 2004.
At age 20, he had already developed the beginnings of WordPress and was fielding job offers from tech companies. He dropped out to work for CNET in San Francisco, with a promise that he could continue developing his side project 15 percent of the time.
He left to found Automattic, the company behind WordPress. WordPress is the most popular CMS in the world and is used by nearly 75 million websites. According to WordPress, more than 409 million people view more than 23.6 billion pages each month and users produce 69.5 million new posts and 46.8 million new comments every month. It also powers more than 25% of the world’s websites.
Contact me right away to see how I can help you keep your quality system in the Good category, and avoid descending into the Bad and Ugly.
920-841-3478
Steve@TheRightApproachConsulting.com
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