ISO 9001 Continual Improvement
Quality Management System ISO9001:2015 – Continual Improvement: not a destination, but a journey
ISO 9001:2015 Clause 10 Improvement describes the requirements for continual improvement. Of course, Continual improvement is at the very heart of Quality Management. So Improvements can be made to products, services or the Quality Management System by identifying nonconformities (nonfulfillment of a requirement) and taking corrective actions to address the root cause of the non-conformance.
What is ISO 9001 Continual Improvement
Once you have received your ISO 9001:2015 certification, you need to keep perfecting your QMS to improve your performance. So Continual Improvement is an ongoing effort to improve your company’s products, services and processes. Your efforts can be gradual and improvements put into action over time. Because these can range widely in difficulty, time, implementation and subject matter.
How can Continual Improvement affect the performance of the company:
In short, the key benefits of continual Improvements are increasing quality, reduced costs, simplified work processes, lower waste, enhanced customer satisfaction and profit.
So improving your focus on understanding customer requirements has two important benefits:
- Firstly through significant savings through finding errors and finding issues that have been missed sooner
- And secondly Increased customer satisfaction, because customers are pleased with the products and services they buy
So, how do you find Continual Improvement Opportunities using ISO 9001 requirements
- Customer Satisfaction
- Customer complaints and feedback
- Market research and analysis
- Input from employees, suppliers and other interested parties
- Internal and external audits
- Records of product or process non-conformances
- Data from processes and product features and their trends
Opportunities for continual improvement may also be recognised on a special project basis. The following are examples of such projects:
- Non-value-added use of floor space
- Inspections or testing which is unnecessary
- Excessive handling and storage
- Failures and costs to quality
- Machine set up changeover times.
What drives Continual Improvement
So it is driven by the goals set by Top Management. So goals can be translated into formalised and structured Quality objectives, which should address:
- Firstly – The improvement of internal efficiency
- Secondly – Individual customer requirements
- Thirdly – The level of performance that your market sector expects
There is no requirement for the company to set objectives for continual improvement of all its processes at any one time. In short, it would not be a clever idea to expect the company to make progress in all improvements at the same time.
Because each improvement requires the commitment of resources which should be important to Top Management especially if the investment is needed.
So which Requirements are Affected by Improvements
- QMS planning
- Quality objectives
- Risks and opportunities
- Recommendations for improvement
- Improvement of the system, processes and product
- Analysis and evaluation of data
- Non-conformity and corrective action
Should you Document your Improvement Process according to ISO 9001
You do not need to document your improvement process. However, you should always look to describe and control any operational processes that stimulate the progress of your Quality Management System.
Use SHEQ Software
Using a SHEQ software system as opposed to a paper system will help to plan, and direct all your continual improvement initiatives. SRM and many of our clients use Mango Compliance Software – www.mangolive.com. Mango makes it easier to get ISO 9001:2015 certification.
Improvement Procedure
The purpose of the Improvement Procedure is to explain your company’s process for identifying, reporting, investigating and taking action to address potential non-conformances or opportunities for improvement.
Additionally, opportunities for improvement can be identified and changed into improvement projects.
What should you include in your Improvement Procedure
- Improvement process
- Finding opportunities for improvement
- Studying current QMS processes
- Identifying root or contributing factors
- Developing solutions
- Tracking measurements
- Assessment, arranging and implementing
- Review
Roles and Responsibilities
Furthermore, you should establish and implement an improvement process that defines the various roles and responsibilities for:
- Tracking down improvement opportunities
- Assessment, arranging and implementing improvement opportunities
- Reporting
- Record keeping
As a result opportunities for improvement in operations, processes, products and services can be found by Management, Sales & Marketing and Engineering on a constant basis from daily operational feedback and management reviews.
Example of an Improvement Process
- Select an improvement opportunity
- Put together a team
- Examine the current situation
- Take action
- Inspect the results
- Monitor the solution
- Review the improvement plan
- Plan for the future – support continuous improvement
Auditors will look for Continual Improvement
In this case, they will look for proof that your company is examining data from process monitoring. Then taking the solution from assessing process productivity to increasing process output.
So check the reliability of the way in which the improvement of anyone process adds to meeting the overall objectives. Thus ensuring that it will not clash with the success of other objectives.
In Summary
-
- Stop spending time making your procedures look pretty
- Don’t waste time creating spreadsheets
- Create a process to transform your compliance activities
- Look for other approaches to compliance and change those
- Research the improvement process
- Start your improvement process today
SHEQ Software
SRM and many of our clients use Mango Compliance Software –www.mangolive.com. Mango makes it easier to get ISO 9001:2015 certification.
SRM is ISO 9001: 2015, ISO 14001:2015 and ISO 45001:2018 certified. Let us know if we can help you with the development and implementation of your Quality Management System. Contact our consultants today
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