Quality manual
18. 09. 2024
Furthermore, ISO 9000 (clause 3.8.8) states that “the quality manual is specification for the quality management system of an organisation« and adds in note 1 “Quality manuals can vary in detail and format to suit the size and complexity of an individual organisation“. In essence, a quality manual is a book of policies, strategies, principles and work instructions and it helps in quality management and can also help in leadership. A quality management plan does not have a required format, nor do the requirements of the standard describe the content, but it must be tailored to the needs and meet the expectations of the organisation, or rather the staff of the organisation. It is a set of rules that are agreed at the level of the organisation and are expected to bring improvements. Of course, the rules are pre-determined (agreed) based on a risk assessment. And because it is impossible to predict everything in advance, and because the organisation changes internally as well as the world around it, these rules need to be continuously updated. Finally, any findings in the day-to-day implementation of the management system should be reflected in the development of the quality manual. We are talking about continuous improvement as a reflection of the information that is collected, monitored, analyzed.
Management systems and, consequently, quality manual probably date back to the late 13th century, with the first beginnings linked to the craftsmanship and guilds in Europe. They somehow had the first written instructions defining the framework of how an activity should be carried out. Today we would call it a management system. They had written rules, which, after all, could be called quality manual. Later, systemic arrangements gained momentum in the early 19th century with the Industrial Revolution, which laid the foundations for the factories as we know today. And if they wanted to work at the scale and in the way they were intended, they needed a management system. There had to be rules about how the factory worked, how it operated. At the end of the same century, the so-called Taylor system emerged in the US, the basic idea of which was to increase efficiency without increasing the number of skilled workers. The idea that every single job is not done by an expert, but by employees who are trained for just one operation, for a very small range of activities. Step-by-step production planning systems have been introduced, with experts doing only the planning and control – quality control if you like. Efficiency – in quantity – has increased rapidly. But as efficiency went up, quality went down, so inspection departments were soon introduced to check products at the end to prevent non-conforming ones from reaching the customer, from reaching the market.
The early 20th century saw the beginnings of process management and quality control systems or quality tools (SQC). During and immediately after the Second World War, standards and sampling to maintain quality were born. After the war, a quality system linked to all aspects of production thus took root, particularly in Japan, which was not only concerned with the control of the finished product, but also with quality management throughout the entire production process and all supporting processes. This is how “total quality management TQM” is developed. In 1987, the first edition of ISO 9001 is released, based on the findings of several decades of quality system development. Nowadays, we are talking about Quality 4.0. Throughout the development of management systems, quality manuals have followed as a documentary system to support the management system. Hand in hand.
At LOTRIČ Metrology, the Quality Manual is a fundamental document of the management system (not just the quality management system) and serves to continuously improve and maintain the level of performance and provides uniform requirements and guidelines for the desired way of operating, even though we are subject to constant change. In essence, it sets out the agreed policies and objectives, as well as our strategy and mission. It describes all our processes or activities, carried out at all levels, in all processes, in all sectors and departments. It provides effective mechanisms for sustainable development, with an emphasis on moral values. As a family business, values, or rather our culture, are at the heart of maintaining balance within the LOTRIČ Metrology Group, as well as externally, towards our customers and partners. It defines the methods and models for ensuring the competence of staff, the guidelines for their training, and the sufficiency and thus the planning of all the resources needed to carry out the activities. It sets out in great detail the responsibilities and authorities of all staff. It includes working instructions for processes and procedures (methods) at the implementation (day-to-day) level and allows for continuous improvement of the management system through the feedback process and internal control mechanisms.
The Quality Manual should follow the basic principle of “good enough” or “detailed enough”. Every time there is a question of how to do something, we should follow the principle of “good enough”. How detailed should the instructions be? Detailed enough to carry out the task properly, and to be carried out properly by each person. Because only in this way can we fully capture the understanding of our own needs, as well as the requirements of the standards that are introduced in the management system. This is a note from ISO 9000, which says that the quality manual should be appropriate to the size and complexity of the organisation. LOTRIČ Metrology Group is developing an integrated management system. A single quality manual at the level of the whole group. In the parent organisation, the management system is already integrated as it incorporates the requirements of several standards in one management system. On the one hand, this means more options, a more complex design, but on the other hand it brings a number of advantages, such as no duplication of documents. I am a proponent of what I call single-track management systems, which do not have parallel documents, but the requirements are unified for the entire scope of the business, all locations, all processes. This does not mean that the same requirements apply to all activities, but the Quality Manual brings all requirements, even if different, into a somewhat uniform system approach. This makes it easier for staff to monitor and implement requirements and compliance tasks.
For continuous improvement of the management system, we follow the 3Rs. Understand, Develop, Scale (in Slovenian language “Razumevanje, Razvoj, Razširjenost«, hence the title 3Rs). Therefore, first, the staff or persons in charge needs to have a good, well, excellent understanding of the requirements, needs and expectations of all relevant stakeholders. Hence our principle “we believe in the power of knowledge”. Thus, we invest heavily in training our staff in the knowledge and especially the understanding of the requirements of the management system standards. This is essential and much needed. When staff have a good understanding of the requirements, they can develop the management system and, of course, the quality manual documentation in an appropriate and innovative way. Development must keep pace with the external and internal needs of the organisation. It must respond to changes in its own profession as well as to changes in the profession of its clients. It must respond to changes in the market, to its competitors. It must respond to technological change, to developments in technology in its fields of work. It must respond to developments in the technology it uses in its support processes. Must respond to organizational change. Must respond to all changes. In essence, it must create change.
Over the years, my advice when building a management system and a quality manual would be to make it a living system. Like a human being, a quality manual is constantly learning, growing and evolving. It learns, grows and evolves, of course, as much as we, the people within the system, do. After all, we, the people, are the system, which is not an end in itself, but is there for us, the people, to use, to develop according to our own needs. We are all too little aware of the fact that we are the staff in the system, indeed the system. And it is up to us, working within the system, to make it what it will be. Will we make it efficient? Or will we make it tailor-made for us? Will we make it our own? The worst thing I hear is that something is required by the ISO. That something is so because it is a requirement of the standard. A standard never requires how something should be done, but in a sense, it just gives the minimum requirements that an organisation must meet. How to do this is up to the organisation itself. And how it does it is the point. Every organisation must be able to adapt the implementation of the requirements on a day-to-day basis. They must be able to assess their own abilities to make the management system work efficiently, like a well-oiled machine. If your own skills are too low, educate yourself. Learn. Observe and reflect. The solutions are within you. They are on the tray. But first you must be ready to change. Change for yourself. That can be the biggest stumbling block, because we are not ready to change. At least not ourselves, unless it’s urgent. Sometimes it is already too late.
Primoz
Next time, 2 October 2024, Quality