IBS America, Inc.

Youre In Charge of Quality: Now What?

Step-by-Step Guide for your New QM position
IBS America, Inc.

2011

24 Hartwell Ave. Lexington, MA

Youre In Charge of Quality: Now What?

IBS America, Inc. 781.862.9002 www.ibs-us.com

Introduction
Being placed in charge of quality at a new company, or just starting out in the quality field can be daunting. Understanding the quality parameters of what the company produces and how it is produced is now up to you, which can also be overwhelming. So, where do you start? You'll find that when it comes to managing your new company's quality management systems, there are indeed some textbook tasks that are supposed to be done in addition to tasks that should be done to help you gain as much insight into the company as possible. The following is a stepby-step guide based on feedback from experienced quality managers as well as industryrecommended strategy suggestions to help you achieve success in the quality management industry. While this guide provides some practical applications in terms of quality management systems and document management, its important to understand that company quality isnt limited to just your department. Quality applies to production, product design, planning, and management. It is an organization-wide effort that all employees should work Thoroughly understand towards in order to achieve the highest level of quality the current QMS that possible.

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your organization has in place: you cant move the company forward if you dont understand where you are today.

So in an attempt to tackle this broad concept of quality, the following are some suggestions to help you thrive in your new endeavor.

Step 1: Spend some time to understand your new organizations products or services

This seems pretty obvious, but understanding the product or service that your new company supplies is important. Depending on the product or services complexity, this could mean spending a considerable amount of time with people who design it as well as those who make it so that you will be able to better understand your responsibilities for assuring quality and compliance.

Step 2: Know where the company is in terms of QMS

Thoroughly understand the current quality management system (QMS) that your organization has in place, since you cant move the company forward if you dont understand where you are today. Read and understand all system, policy, and procedure manuals of the company. Also be

IBS America, Inc.

24 Hartwell Avenue

Lexington, MA 02421

Tel: (781) 862-9002 Fax: (781) 862-9003

www.ibs-us.com

Youre In Charge of Quality: Now What?

IBS America, Inc. 781.862.9002 www.ibs-us.com

sure to review key critical success indicators from your company's customers, as QMS should be driving customer satisfaction. Understanding the QMS is important, as is customer feedback. You may find that there are a range of minor or major gaps that will require attention. Once you understand the companys current quality management system, see if the system is currently working (if it isnt broken, dont fix it!)

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Step 3: See the companys available historical data

Now take the time to do some research. You need to now thoroughly understand your organizations performance relative to competitive benchmarks and deep dive any warranty, CRM and/or survey data available. Dig up old audit reports of previous audits done, and check the corrective actions and preventive actions of the company's departments and divisions. Also take a look at recent documented internal and customer complaints. This due diligence will allow you to accurately depict customer needs and wants, and assist you in steering the organization in a new, more profitable direction.

An out on the floor assessment of the current processes and of the way business is handled is invaluable.

Step 4: Conduct your own audit or gap analysis

After seeing what has been done in the past and have a better idea of the companys current status, conduct your own gap analysis, audits and other business analytics as a means to understand gaps in the system that affect customer satisfaction. Create the gap analysis between where you are and where you need to be, and be critical of any performance indicators that are not supportive of outcomes that move you toward your goals for the organization. Your own gap analysis or audit will also help you to understand implementation and then help you plan on how to take it further. This "out on the floor" assessment of the current processes and of the way business is handled" in your organization is invaluable - a review of daily operations would also allow you to get big picture about how your new organization functions. This refocusing effort not only supports engagement, but can also free up labor for new shop floor initiatives. As a quality manager, you can evaluate from here the companys business objectives from a business policy and customer satisfaction perspective. This assessment coupled with review of the Quality Policy, plan, and procedures would be a great first move. So after Step 3, which involves the monitoring and measuring of data (such as customer and internal complaints), be

IBS America, Inc.

24 Hartwell Avenue

Lexington, MA 02421

Tel: (781) 862-9002 Fax: (781) 862-9003

www.ibs-us.com

Youre In Charge of Quality: Now What?

IBS America, Inc. 781.862.9002 www.ibs-us.com

prepared at months end to provide a Management Information Service (MIS) report to top management, which will include both the companys historical data coupled with your own findings.

Step 5: Go to the GEMBA: talk to the people

Walking the GEMBA1 is part of Check in Plan-Do-Check-Act: it is the process of carefully observing in order to see where things are not as they should be. Sometimes there is less walking involved, and more just standing and watching. Take advantage of the GEMBA: and dont forget to communicate, communicate, communicate. Talk to your staff, the shop floor, and especially management. Your organization has hired you to move the company forward, but they will need to understand your production quality control plan or vision in order to be engaged and support it. If you want to find out what is really going on in the organization, talk to the people: ask questions and learn about the processes that they are asking you to monitor. Your most powerful

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Communicate, communicate, communicateyour organization has hired you to move the company forward, but they will need to understand your plan or vision in order to be engaged and support it.

tool is the question and getting other people to tell you what they are doing - nobody knows the process better than the people doing it. This will also help you to find out the ABCs of the company: Attitude, Behavior, and Culture. Mastering the human factor is very critical for good quality management. Spend some time, if you can, getting your hands dirty on the floor. This is also one of the best ways to create a good rapport with the process owners that will benefit you in the future. Additionally, the people know what's wrong with the process if you will just take a moment to listen. How will you fix the gaps you've found without understanding the company culture and
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GEMBA is Japanese for the real place, and is often synonymous with the shop floor. The GEMBA term is typically used to describe the real place where the work is being done in order to understand the process. When you Go to the GEMBA, you are participating in the philosophy of the 3 Reals: You have to go to the REAL place to observe the REAL thing to get the REAL facts and data. Read more about GEMBA.

IBS America, Inc.

24 Hartwell Avenue

Lexington, MA 02421

Tel: (781) 862-9002 Fax: (781) 862-9003

www.ibs-us.com

Youre In Charge of Quality: Now What?

IBS America, Inc. 781.862.9002 www.ibs-us.com

what every company seems to have: the undocumented tribal processes? So spend time networking, getting to know the people, and gain first-hand experience on how things work on the ground. Remember; dont feel as though you need to change what is already in place and working the last thing any worker wants is a sudden change in processes. It can also be counter-productive if you rush a new QMS in or force it on workers. So take your time, understand the processes, and communicate with the people to find out any weaknesses. You will need to know if it is the processes or the people that need attention.
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Step 6: Take action: use what you have learned to move forward
After sifting through your companys historical and current data, conducting your own audit or gap analysis in Step 4, and then speaking with the people in Step 5, you may find it helpful to put together a Quality Team. Once this team is in place, contact senior management and request that select leaders from all departments be pulled to help create a brainstorming group to work directly with the Quality Team, with the intention of generating new quality initiatives. Take the results of brainstorming (or your own findings, should you decide not to create a team) and to get on the shop floor regularly. The internal and external data that youve collected is a great place to start, as that will help you find the areas that cause the highest loss of profit and customer satisfaction. Remember, you wont get your common cause projects authorized down the road until you show tangible, end-result progress to the senior management.

Now may be the perfect time to seek out an effective quality management software solution to assist you in your quality management system endeavors. For example, IBS America, Inc. compliance and quality management software offers organizations the ability to comply with various regulations and standards such as FDA regulatory requirements, HACCP, and the family of ISO standards to name a few.

Contact IBS America, Inc. to Get Started

www.ibs-us.com
781.862.9002

IBS America, Inc.

24 Hartwell Avenue

Lexington, MA 02421

Tel: (781) 862-9002 Fax: (781) 862-9003

www.ibs-us.com

Youre In Charge of Quality: Now What?

IBS America, Inc. 781.862.9002 www.ibs-us.com

Once you have an effective quality management system in place, stretch to gain insight in other areas of the organizations value chain or business units. If you see opportunities, offer your help but make your contact with the head of the other business unit the lead: when they succeed, youll succeed. Lastly, having reviewed the QMS and listened to the people, lead a project team to reconfigure the QMS where necessary and remove ambiguous targets. Reduce paperwork as much as possible using a document management solution, and make measuring the performance of individuals more interesting and beneficial for both the people, and the manager who is managing them.
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Be a leader of change, and take advantage of leadership resources

Quality professionals are consistently dealing with change, and the natural human reaction to change is resistance. Overcoming resistance and driving toward a quality Culture of Compliance is the most challenging task that quality professionals may face. A recent post from The Lean Blog describes perfectly the factors that form the core of resistance to change: the main concept to understand when working with change initiation is that change will not be accepted until a good deal of effort has been expended on the initial information provided. Depending on the scope of the change you would like to implement, others are faced with what seems to be an attack on several of the elements that form their basic needs. To understand where your fellow coworkers are coming from, here are some thoughts from those who are presented with notions of change:
o o o o

The obsolescence of knowledge: Must I relearn everything again? The distortions their perception of the situation brings: Did he say what I think he said? Their previous experience with changes of this type: Do you remember the last time they did this? The basic fear of the unknown: How will this affect me?

IBS America, Inc.

24 Hartwell Avenue

Lexington, MA 02421

Tel: (781) 862-9002 Fax: (781) 862-9003

www.ibs-us.com

Youre In Charge of Quality: Now What?

IBS America, Inc. 781.862.9002 www.ibs-us.com

Take a look at Figure 1, which breaks down the process for both welcome and unwelcome changes. You can see that for both scenarios, communication of information is critical to eventual acceptance.
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Figure 1: The Process of Change. Credit: The Lean Blog

So how do you drive change? Here are some quality-specific strategies that may help you reach your new initiative goals within your company: a. Back up your quality initiative with data. b. Train people and improve the process. c. Involve people in your initiatives and encourage better ideas. d. Communicate with humility, and respect the opinions of others. e. Conduct short and periodical training sessions. Remember that most quality mangers have the responsibility but not the authority to drive change: they have to do it by influence. While understanding processes is important, being a great leader is what will make or break your success in your career. Read leadership books, blogs, newsletters, or even hire a professional career coach to improve your leadership and soft skills.

Set about making quality a philosophy within the organization and not an objective
When companies decide to implement a QMS, there is a spectrum of results that can occur. On one end, companies use a QMS simply for ISO-9000, TS-16949 regulation compliance or certification purposes: they gain little from the experience because they are forced to comply with these standards and requirements.

IBS America, Inc.

24 Hartwell Avenue

Lexington, MA 02421

Tel: (781) 862-9002 Fax: (781) 862-9003

www.ibs-us.com

Youre In Charge of Quality: Now What?

IBS America, Inc. 781.862.9002 www.ibs-us.com

When company management embraces the business management operating philosophy outlined in the standards, implementing a QMS can result in an increase in the companys profitability.

However, when company management embraces the business management operating philosophy outlined in the standards, implementing a QMS can result in drastic improvement of their organizations internal communications, improvement of the effectiveness and efficiency of their processes, reduction of the cost of poor quality and an increase in the profitability of their company. Whatever the standard used, if management embraces the philosophies contained in the standard, they will have the opportunity to improve. You may find that your greatest challenge is changing the company culture to understand that quality is for everyone, not just people with Quality in their title.

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Sign Up for a free consultation to evaluate your Companys QMS system

To help you get started on evaluating your companys current QMS system, click here to sign up for a free consultation from IBS America, Inc. Find this whitepaper helpful? You can also visit IBS America, Inc. for access to a full library of quality and compliance whitepapers. Click here to access quality and compliance whitepaper library from IBS America

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IBS America, Inc.

24 Hartwell Avenue

Lexington, MA 02421

Tel: (781) 862-9002 Fax: (781) 862-9003

www.ibs-us.com