Converting a Quality Management System Using the Process Approach

Written for executives, managers and practitioners, the purpose of this guide is to help organizations see beyond the badge on the wall and gain benefits from their management system by converting their existing systems of documentation into systems of managed processes that deliver real business benefits. Since 1987 the policies and practices of organization's that serve the achievement of quality have been inextricably linked with ISO 9000. which has become the most successful international standard ever. Organizations were being told that all they had to do was "document what you do and do what you document". This simplistic and misleading message spread so widely that probably over 90% of the quality systems that have been developed since 1987, are merely collections of documents that followed the elements of the standard. This approach to quality system development became known as the element or clause approach. Its focus was on conformity to requirements often quite independently of business needs. As a consequence many organizations failed to realize any significant business benefit. For those organizations that designed their systems and behaviours around the 20 elements of the standard there will be significant change. Existing quality management systems will need to be converted so that they reflect a process approach to quality management. This presents a significant opportunity to achieve real business benefits.

Table of Contents:
A real change in direction Process versus procedures Quality management principles The conversion process Planning the change Modelling the Business Organizing Process Development Teams Process Analysis Key performance indicators Performance measurement Process flow charts System construction System validation Level 1 flow charts Level 2 flow charts Level 3 flow charts

About the Author :
David Hoyle has over 30 years experience in quality management. He held managerial positions with British Aerospace and Ferranti International. As a management consultant; he guided such companies as General Motors, Civil Aviation Authority and Bell Atlantic through their ISO 9000 programmes and delivered quality management and auditor training courses throughout the world. He has published five books with Butterworth Heinemann on ISO 9000, some of which have been translated into Spanish, Japanese and Mandarin. He participates in various committees of the Institute of Quality Assurance and has been engaged in the revision of ISO 9000. He is a Chartered Engineer, Fellow of the Institute of Quality Assurance, an IRCA registered Lead Auditor and Member of the Royal Aeronautical Society. John Thompson is an experienced management consultant in business improvement and over a 20 year period held management positions in Unilever, RHP Bearings, Mars and Caradon. During the last 12 years, and prior to forming Transition Support Ltd, he was in management consultancy as a Director of Neville-Clarke Ltd and GPR Consultants Ltd. He assisted organizations in Europe, the Middle East and South East Asia in their business improvement activities, including the use of ISO 9000 Baldrige, Singapore Quality Award and EFQM frameworks. He has assisted many organizations develop improvement strategies and apply the process approach to system development and to auditing.

Review :
'If you are serious about the pursuit of quality, the process approach advocated lucidly and thoughtfully by Hoyle and Thompson is, in my experience, an excellent means for achieving it within an organisation.' Jon Scrase - Quality Management Consultant