ISO 9001: A Brief Explanation on ISO 9001 Quality Procedure

When our company intend to implement Quality Management System (ISO 9001:2000), we should prepare quality management system documentation that includes documented statement of quality policy and quality objectives, a quality manual, quality procedures and workplace references or work instructions to ensure the effective planning, operation, and control of company processes.

In regard with quality procedure, it should be established, documented, implemented and maintained. The documented ISO 9001:2000 procedure may be different from one company to another because of the size of company and type of activities, the complexity of processes and their interactions and the competence of their personnel.

In practice, format of ISO 9001:2000 quality procedures may also differ from one company to another. For a company that is trying to make their own ISO 9001: 2000 quality procedures for the first time, using ISO 9001:2000 procedure examples can be very helpful. It does not mean duplicating the ISO 9001:2000 procedure example for the company own use.

An ISO 9001:2000 quality procedure may consist of cover sheet, flow diagram, and procedure in detail. The cover sheet contains Company name, title of ISO 9001:2000 procedure, sheet number, document number and revision record (revision number, description of revision, date of revision and signature of the person in charge.

The flow diagram explains step by step from the beginning how the ISO 9001:2000 procedure flows. And the procedure its self should at least have an objective, scope, general explanation, definitions used in the procedure, content of the procedure, records used, related documents and important attachments. The contents of ISO 9001:2000 procedure is a text description of the work flow or instructions based on its flow diagram. The description is started with the persons in charge and followed by explanation of their tasks or jobs as specified in the flow diagram.

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ISO 9000 AND SEI-CMM PROCESSES AND STANDARDS FOR OUTSOURCING

Companies seeking international outsourcing are increasingly expecting providers who can offer high quality services and work products, as defined by formal compliance with international standards such as ISO 9000 and SEI-CMM. Providers who offer high quality work but do not adhere to recognized ISO or SEI-CMM standards will surely lose out to those who do.

In fact, a growing number of companies who will use outsourcing already use ISO standards, which define the rules for selecting outsourcing providers. In this case, these companies MUST select outsourcing companies that use the same or similar standards. For example, Clause 7.4, "Purchasing," of the ISO handbook, "ISO 9001 for Small Businesses," deals in detail with the complex area of contracting out processes, products or services which is commonly referred to as " outsourcing " or " subcontracting ". It covers who is responsible, the relationship between outsourcing, the organization and customers, how to ensure that you get what is expected, plus how to select companies with the necessary capability to meet requirements.

About the Standards :

ISO 9000

- The International Organization for Standards (ISO 9000 series).
- International set of documents on quality assurance. Written by members of a worldwide delegation.
- 3 core quality systems documents.
- Models of quality assurance.

SEI-CMM Model

- SEI (Software Engineering Institute) established in 1984.
- The CMM (Capability Maturity Model) of SEI is a framework that describes the key elements of an effective software outsourcing process.
- CMM - composed of 5 maturity levels.
- Each level facilitates a layer in the foundation for continuous process improvement.

Achieving each level of the model institutionalizes a different component in the software process, resulting in an overall increase in the process capability of the organization.

For outsourcing providers, it is therefore critically necessary that you understand ISO 9000 and SEI-CMM processes and standards not only for your own purposes, but also so that you can better understand the requirements of the companies who will be your clients. Having certification in these standards will greatly improve your business profile and increase your potential for doing business in an increasingly quality-conscious world.

For further information on software outsourcing , offshore outsourcing and offshore software development , please visit http://www.a1technology.com .

How to Formulate your Quality Policy Statement and Quality Objectives in your ISO Quality Manual

When embarking on a new quality management system and writing a new quality manual for your organization, one of the most important decisions to make is how your quality policy statement should read. A quality policy statement is a requirement of an ISO9001:2000 quality management system, and can be regarded as the general guiding philosophy of your company or organization.

If you compare guiding a company to steering a ship, the nautical equivalent of a quality policy statement might be something like "We are going to sail to New York". This is a general statement of the overall goal. In your company's quality manual, you might say something like "Our goals are to achieve 100 percent customer satisfaction, constantly innovate in our products, and continually improve in all our activities". How can you steer the ship if you don't know where you want to go?

The quality objectives you choose to include in your quality manual, on the other hand, are the nuts-and-bolts, day-to-day objectives that will show how you are doing in regards to your overall goal. Quality objectives are also a requirement of an ISO9001:2000 quality management system, and must be included in your quality manual.

Depending on the size and complexity of your organization, I recommend that you have from 3 to 7 quality objectives in your quality manual. Any less than three is probably inadequate to accurately measure the improvement in your quality. Any more than 7 is probably too difficult to keep track of, and may start to become redundant.

Quality objectives must be measurable based on objective, numerical data. A vague statement in your quality manual such as "create the best product" is not measurable. The word "best" is a subjective evaluation, and can not be measured accurately. Your quality objectives should most likely contain some sort of numerical reference. Here are some examples:

 

• Customer Satisfaction Rating -- 97 percent or better.
• Customer Returns -- less than 10 per month
• Customer Returns -- less than .5 percent of sales.
• Final Inspection Rejection Rate -- less than .5 percent of units produced.

You must keep records of your organization's performance. You must keep track of how you do with respect to each of your quality objectives. These records will be reviewed by your third party auditor in the event you are audited to the ISO9001:2000 standard.

 

Whether or not you are ISO certified, it is definitely in your best interest to keep track of where you are in relation to where you want to be. In order to steer the ship accurately, not only do you need to know where you want to go, but you also need to know where you are currently.

I recommend that you compile statistics on your quality objective performance at least twice a year. Your performance measurements should be one of the inputs for your management review meeting, but you are free to compile and examine the statistics as often as you feel would be helpful.

Whether it be during the course of your management review, or at any other time, an analysis of your quality objective performance can be quite revealing. It can validate that you are on the right track, or can point out deficiencies. Hopefully a regular analysis of your quality objectives will keep you on track, and keep pointing you in right direction, in your quest for continually improving your quality system and your whole organization.

I always recommend that people keep their ISO quality manual as simple as possible, while covering the necessary requirements of ISO9001:2000. Keep your quality policy statement simple, but meaningful. Keep your quality objectives simple, meaningful, and measurable.

Timothy Macenroe
ISO Consultant and Quality Manager

My Blog about ISO Certification and Quality Manuals - QualityManualChat.com

ISO Quality Manual Sample and Templates - ISO-Quality-Manual.com
 

The Orphan Child Called ISO

ISO wasn't easy to change on early digital cameras.

First, here's a quick definition: ISO stands for the International Standards Organization. What it really indicates is a digital sensor's sensitivity to light.

A low ISO is less sensitive and a high ISO is very sensitive.

Further translated: a high ISO like 3200 means that the sensor can capture a clear photo, even in low-light conditions. A low ISO like 100 requires a lot of ambient light for clear shots.

So why is this setting so often ignored? It's harder to sell the benefits of ISO (which is pretty confusing to anyone who is not a camera junkie) versus something simpler like speed (2 photos per second or 5 photos per second...which one's faster?).

Well, I'm here today to try to illustrate the benefits of ISO. It is a prominent feature on all of the latest digital cameras, and is something that you should be aware of when you're trying to take photos in available light.

Benefit #1 - Clear hand-held photos

Here's the problem: you're taking photos indoors on an overcast day. The only way that you can get a proper exposure is to slow down the shutter speed to 1/30 of a second.

The camera's shutter needs to stay open 1/30 of a second to let in plenty of light. Unfortunately, the longer the shutter stays open, the more likely your photo will turn out blurry. The blur is caused by camera shake when you hold the camera in your hands.

While blur is sometimes desirable to illustrate motion, most ot the time it's not the effect you want.

You really want to get a clear photograph, but there isn't enough ambient light. You think you're stuck with two options: use a flash, or attach the camera to a tripod so it's stable.

But here comes ISO to offer up a third alternative: set your ISO to 800 or 1600.

This boosts the light sensitivity of the camera's sensor, so you're not forced to keep the shutter open so long. With a shutter speed of 1/125 or 1/250 you can now hold the camera in your hands and get perfectly clear available-light photographs.

Benefit #2 - Atmosphere

As you increase the ISO on your digital camera, you also increase the noise in the photograph. "Noise" is the appearance of dots and specks, typically in shadow areas of the image.

Digital camera manufacturers have gone to great lengths to minimize noise, even at high ISO settings. This is due to benefit #1 above.

But sometimes you might want that noise in your photograph. Let's say you're taking shots on a foggy day, and the mood of the scene could really use some noise, to give the photo an old-time look.

Boost the ISO as high as it will go (usually 3200) and that noise will appear in your photo. In black and white, it really adds to the atmosphere and the quality of the image.

Benefit #3 - Fast shutter speeds

One of the best uses of a really fast shutter speed is to freeze motion.

If you take a lot of photos of sporting events, you need to be using shutter speeds around 1/1000 of a second or faster. There are not many days where there is enough ambient light to use these super-fast shutter speeds.

The only way that you will be able to catch all the action is if you increase your ISO. If you don't want noise in the photo, just increase the ISO enough to get the shutter speed you want. If ISO 400 will get the job done, then use that.

Summary

I hope that this brief introduction has opened your eyes to the usefulness of ISO settings on digital cameras.

I think that the ability to change ISO on the fly is one of the biggest advantages that digital cameras have over film.

With film you'd have to shoot an entire roll at one ISO setting before you could switch to another (or you had to have 2 cameras with different ISO films).

With digital you can change the ISO anytime, anywhere. It gives you complete flexibility and control over the photos that you take.

Changing the ISO setting does take some getting used to, and it's still not easy to do on some digital camera models.

I am sure though that once you start using it, you'll find yourself saying "Please, sir, may I have some more?"

Chris Roberts purchased his first digital SLR camera 3 years ago, and hasn't looked back. He continues to learn and write about new and emerging digital SLRs to this day on his web sites, the Digital SLR Guide and the Digital SLR Guide Weblog

Quality Standards with ISO 9001

Standardizing Quality Systems

The ISO, or International Organization for Standardization, was established in 1947 to develop international standards for everything from electronics to management systems. Having over 13,000 standards currently in place, ISO has created the auditing and certification process known as ISO 9001. This began the drive toward quality standards.

Improving Customer Satisfaction

Companies choose to implement ISO 9001 and get certified because many customers and industries require it. By keeping customers happy, they can increase sales and profitability for their business. And if an area of the company’s program appears to be too bureaucratic and non-value-adding, then it might also be an area for continuous improvement efforts.

Enhancing Company Performance

Both customers and industries alike use ISO certification as a way to evaluate and audit their suppliers and products. Through an independent verification process, customers can gain assurance of their suppliers’ products. And as a supplier becomes certified, the testing requirement is waved, which saves the company both time and money.

Developing Best Practices

Employed as a “Best Practices” model, ISO 9001 utilizes the philosophy of the “Plan-Do-Check-Act” continuous improvement cycle to achieve requirements. This process approach centers around eight quality management principles used by management as a guide toward improving performance and identifying the main elements needed in a good quality system:

1. Customer Focus

2. Leadership

3. Involvement of People

4. Process Approach

5. Systems Approach to Management

6. Continuous improvement

7. Factual Approach to Decision-Making

8. Mutually Beneficial Supplier Relationship

Building Stable Processes

ISO 9001 policies, procedures and forms can provide employers, managers and employees with a systematic and consistent approach to implementing policies, plans, procedures and work routines. Instead of building their own policies and procedures from scratch, some companies prefer to hire professional writers that have already prepared a set of written policies and procedures to help on the way to certification.

Auditing a Company System

In the certification process, an independent registrar will perform an on-site audit of a company’s operations to verify that it complies with the ISO standard. If the business complies, then that company will be registered as ISO 9001 compliant.

Meeting Company and Customer Needs

On the way to certification, a business can meet its ISO needs by:

• Using well-defined processes and procedures to build stable processes

• Training in the audit and certification process

• Continuously improving with ISO 9001 standards

Noticing the Difference

With complete procedures manuals for ISO 9001 Quality Management System, required HR procedures, and an ISO training class, a template like an ISO 9001 Quality Manager Procedures Manual Series can help a business on its way to ISO 9001 certification. Sometimes the effort can be very great, but companies typically notice a remarkable difference in efficiency and effectiveness after the first year.

Chris Anderson has over 18 years of management experience working with business process design, software and systems engineering, consulting with companies large and small. He is also co-author of policies and procedures manual products, producing the layout, process design and implementation of the information to increase performance. He is currently the Managing Director of Bizmanualz, Inc.

Visit: http://www.bizmanualz.com