Posts Categorized: Uncategorized

During one of my document checks I asked an  accredited calibration agency for a copy of a calibration certificate be­cause I knew the ‘certificate’ on file was simply a Work Order issued by the technician who had checked the equip­ment, and which only referenced the certificate number. I wanted the correct certificate to be on… Read more »

Too often employees believe that the quality system is ‘man­agement business’ and they are shocked when they find out that everyone is involved. We do not want to wait until assessment to put this right. I have found it helpful to include training so that staff: know where to find the Quality Policy Manual know… Read more »

  Amid all the glamour of design, new processes, new technology, measurement and “lean management”,  the less glamorous elements of a quality system might not be given the priority and attention they deserve. For example, housekeeping is very important. The assessor will be looking at the general cleanliness and care which is evident (or not)… Read more »

Management Reviews of the quality system (quality management) should be scheduled as rigorously as Material Review Boards or other corporate reviews. Agenda items are assigned to the appropriate levels of authority. The QUALIDOC MANAGEMENT REVIEW AGENDA is as follows: A.  Quality Management Representative (QMR) report – status of quality system: results from quality system audits… Read more »

  I am the first to say that I know next to nothing about statistics. I barely scraped through the mandatory course at university which an unfeeling administration required that I take to complete my studies. My interest and spirits heightened considerably when I realised that the course was more about recognising spurious statistics rather… Read more »

“I am so clever that sometimes I don’t understand a single word of what I am saying.” ― Oscar Wilde, The Happy Prince and Other Stories I hope I never give that impression with my writing. I sometimes edit my writing to the extent that I come full circle, back to where I started (well, almost). Unfortunately,… Read more »

QUALITY, LIKE BEAUTY, IS IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER Many years ago I visited a small company which was the sole-source subcontractor for a critical military winter item. As I chatted with them about their business, I asked how they recorded their nonconformances. The Managing Director waved towards a couple of sad-looking photographs of… Read more »

Too often employees believe that the quality system is ‘man­agement business’ and it is a shock when they discover that everyone is involved. I have found also that academic training centres (universities, training colleges) do not give sufficient credibility to quality management, particularly in their engineering and business development studies.   We do not want… Read more »

During one of my contracts in marine freight forwarding I worked with a Maintenance Foreman who was responsible for isolating and identifying nonoperational forklifts used to move cargo. His habit was to remove the forklifts to a corner and attach a small (grubby) tag marked ‘DO NOT USE’ to each one. Unfortunately, the night shift… Read more »

  The zeal for “measurement” and “continuous improvement” expressed through numbers has been gaining strength for some years. I have even seen one comment that “nothing in process development was any use unless it was, or could be, measured”. I maintain that measurements can’t be made, or make any sense at all, unless they derive… Read more »