How to get the most from your Management Review

Now this is a crucial part of your QMS mainly because it is often the area that auditors start with in order to gauge how well the system is being maintained.  If you think about you can understand why as it defines several aspects all in one document. How is the system fairing; are things [...]

It doesn’t say you have to use Flowcharts – does it?

The use of flowcharts causes much discussion, with everyone having an opinion as to the best style and structure. However, what’s all the fuss about when they are not even mandated as part of a QMS?  9001 states that the QMS can be recorded on any format so why not carry on doing what we [...]

How to check if you are ready for that 9001 audit

I often get asked this as sites get close to bringing in the auditor so I put together this summary of what I would expect to see in relation to the five main paragraphs so it is possible for anyone to gauge if they are ready. How much of the system? The QMS should have [...]

Who’s up for getting Whitehall ISO approved?

Well who would have thought it. That recent report by Sir Philip Greene has condemned Government procurement practices as ‘shocking’. He then goes on to quote examples that are just too bizarre for words. Yes I know this is nothing new but uncontrolled and inefficient processes, coupled with a lack of understanding and ownership and [...]

Where’s your basic business information please?

When putting together a quality system it goes without saying that you will need to build in numerous measures relating to various processes around the business. Now most of these will often be new to a site so you need to carefully explain what is required and why. However you enter into this phase almost [...]

ISO 9001 Training Guides launched

Companies who install quality management systems are often left to their own devises once the system is installed. To me this is the time when they need the practical support so they get their house in order before the audit. Having worked with many sites to put a system in, I have been very staggered [...]

Now where were we . . . .

The last twelve months have flown by and been really busy – a defining period for our business. So much so that this idea of a blog just got lost in the ‘noise’ I guess – tell me I’m not the only one! Anyway as we enter our seventh year we are determined to get [...]