(ISO) Quality Manual Chat

In my opinion there are basically 2 kinds of companies that are registered to ISO9001-2008. Which one are you?

Tips on writing your quality system documentation, from someone who’s done it many times.

Have you gone through your first ISO9001:2008 registration audit? How nervous were you? How did you do? Was the nervousness justified?

ISO9001:2008 clause 7.5.3 requires us to identify products throughout the production process. There are many ways to do this, some not so obvious. How do you do it?

One of the beautiful features of the ISO9001:2008 quality standard is that it gives users a lot of leeway in how to structure your quality system. But there’s a limit to how far you can go.

Hooray! You’ve just passed your first ISO9001:2000 registration audit. Now what do you do?

Ok, you’ve got your ISO9001:2000 quality management system in place. You know you’ve got to write up corrective actions, right? But you would really rather not, right? OK, so to satisfy the auditor at the next audit, how many corrective actions should you do?

What devices do you use to make measurements in your processes? Do you keep gauges around that aren’t calibrated? If so, why? What value is there in keeping “reference only” measuring devices on hand?

One question that I’ve struggled with over the years…and still struggle with…is how to properly address the problem of an employee who makes the same mistake over and over. Sure, in the magical fairy tale land of ISO9001:2000, it’s easy to blame it on “insufficient training” and be done with it. But there are times [...]

Let’s say you own a small shop that manufactures spare parts. It is a sole proprietorship with you as the sole full time employee. You want to streamline your manual and procedures as much as possible, to include only the bare essentials to conform to ISO9001:2000. You’re the only person there, you need to maximize [...]

The time needed for preparing your quality manual and quality management system can vary greatly. It largely depends upon the pressures you have to deal with.

The ISO9001:2000 quality standard requires that you ensure control over outsourced processes that affect your product’s quality. How are you going to do that?

This is part 2 of a series on the General Requirements of an ISO9001:2000 quality management system, which is section 4.1 in the standard.

This is part one of a primer on the general requirements of the ISO9001:2000 quality management system. You can find the general requirements in section 4.1 of the standard.

It’s a really good idea to have a written purchase order, but if you’ve had a long lasting relationship with your customers, and have done business for years verbally or by e-mail, there are ways to continue such business while still satisfying the requirements if ISO9001:2000