ACADEMY

QUALITY – THE QUALITY SYSTEM

Academy »  Quality – The Quality System

In this section you will find, in the first instance, a reference to the methods frequently used in the field of quality assurance. You can read about their description and applications. A consultant who has registered with the OwnWay constulting web site ticks off those methods that they are familiar with and that they can use. Articles directly related to quality assurance are given in the next section. The respective articles can be assessed using the mark scale from 1 (best) to 5 (worst). The best articles are posted on the web site´s homepage. There is also a possibility to join in an open discussion with the author to learn more about his or her intentions and ideas.

Quality - Standards

You will find descriptions of the international standards being used to enhance the quality in companies, processes, projects, and so on.

Safety and occupational health

If no accident happens, or if work safety is not compromised, we all pose as heros. If the contrary is true, the search is on for the culprit to be seated in the bail dock. Yet such situations can be prevented. All it takes is to devote a little of your managerial time to the system of work safety and health protection.

The story of auditing – an audit fiasco

An audit of quality is not just about how familiar one is with all those paragraphs of a specific standard, but, mainly, about communication, collaboration and an added value it will bring the company. The story of fiasco is a travesty of audit situations which you may, or may not, experience for yourselves.

Quality - Essential Terms

Quality has its technical terms the knowledge of which is essential to fully comprehend the quality management systems. You will find both their exact definitions according to ISO standards and common sense explanations in our overview of terms.

ISO may help harmonize

The last issue of our newletter was, in the fashion of Jiří Střelec, devoted to searching for our own way. Apart from his other activities, Jiří Střelec, too, assists companies in implementing the ISO system which introduces certain standards to production and management of the entire company, and can help improve the internal communication as well. Yet the implementation alone, on the other hand, can pose a great challenge to the internal communication.

The pros and cons of the ISO certification

Certification and working on the processes and the systems cost company owners a lot of money year in year out. Is it really money well spent or is it just the inevitable price to be paid for acquisition of the paper document (certificate)? Does the certification practically give people any added value or has it been just a mere forced business done by certification and consulting companies? How is it possible an ISO 9001-certified company does not effect a single perfect delivery?

TDS CERT „knows how to certify ISO with a human face“…

TDS CERT asserts, though, unlike many others, „they know how to certify ISO with a human face“ and they fully stand up to numbers of both domestic and foreign competitors, where the quality of service, on the one hand, needs to be balanced against the price on the other.

How to tell the auditor´s quality work - depth and emphasis

Internal auditors help to develop and improve the company. However, is there any way of knowing, for a non-auditing manager, whether or not the certification auditor, the external auditor or the internal auditor are performing so that their company can benefit? Audit results mostly represent changing of „papers“, and the manager does not know whether a particular project or order has really been realized well.

How much does smoking cost the employer?

Would you believe the employer voluntarily donates their smoking employees a yearly bonus amounting to just short of CZK 15.000,-? We would. We have calculated how much money a regular smoker puffs out in smoke during their working hours. As a bonus, we have prepared for you a downloadable file with a formula to calculate how much your company contributes towards smoking."

Lean Six Sigma – 12 queries and replies

An ever-increasing pressure on efficiency and quality, a need to expedite deliveries to customers demands that all the instruments available be utilized. The LEAN Six Sigma is one such useful and efficient tool.

Let us put the man first

The right mode of communication can inspire people to coin new ideas or participate in improvement, thus putting all their abilities to work. On the contrary, an inapt approach to communication can invoke reluctancy or even aversion in a worker, and they can hardly be looking for new ideas, with creativity being the forgotten word.