Consultancy for developing, implementing and improving a quality system

Russell Romania (ISO 90000 Consulting) offers you needed support for getting a valuable quality management system, in a professional manner. We are referring to works for this goal as PROJECT. Our experience and knowledge about many business industries will be a valuable asset to your organization...

A regular project contains 5 main phases, like:

• familiarization of Senior Consultants with the specifics of your company;
• collection and preparation of documented quality system;
• support for implementation of documented system;
• support during the certification process;
• support for maintaining and improving the system.

Each phase has several pre-defined steps, mandatory in every project. Based on current needs, additional steps may be defined and undertaken, to achieve the main goal of preparing, implementing, certifying and improving the system.

Regularly, project dura- tion is within 4...6 months, depending on factors like the organiza- tion size, main activities of the company, perso- nnel qualification, level of involvement of top and middle management.

In some situations, where exist a pressure for having a quality system in a very short time, we have a solution. Is called Fast Track to ISO 9000. Basically, we don’t recommend it; however we understand the pressures generated by the possibility of getting a good contract, or of loosing the business, launching a new product, etc.

A project consists of many meetings with the management of the company, also with simply workers. Of course, there is plenty of "in house" work. A key role in the project is on Management Representative’s shoulders (don’t forget that ISO 9001:2000 requires from top management to appoint a management person to be in charge with the system). Because in many situation, appointed Management Representative has little or no knowledge in management system under ISO 9001 standard, as part of the project he or her is trained by us properly.

The roles of these meetings are to collect needed data by interviewing personnel and observing evidences, to explain standard requirements, to find solutions for effective and efficient implementation, to find bad links in existing systems, to judge the value of existing records, to analyze the value of existing written work instructions, etc. Based on collected evidences, we prepare the documentation of the system, containing the Quality Manual, system procedures, working instructions and needed forms.

Implementation of documented quality system is a complex project, which involves many specific tools from us. What is important in this process is that we are able to provide such methods which allow a smooth and effective implementation, in short time. The most simple and effective solution in implementation process is the training of various levels of personnel.

Based on trainings performed in implementation phase, which in our opinion is a two way street, we are able to collect the first hot data regarding the suitability of the system. The second method consists in performing the internal auditing. Both methods provide information regarding needed corrections for the system.

After the establish and implementation of needed correction, organization is suitable to go for the official award of their system: certification of it. Certification process is undertaken by a third party organization, specialized in this activity. Russell Romania (ISO 9000 Consulting) provides you the support during this stage, by simply attending the assessment as observers, so that to be able to guide you after the completion of the assessment. Usually, guidances are provided for deciding the best corrective actions if any non-conformances are found, or to appeal against the assessment process or against the auditors, in situation where breaches of auditing principles and methods are found (it’s not very often, but unfortunately, still exist).

Please remember that certification of the organization has two faces. One is for rewarding an effort (usually a large one) in direction of trying to be better than a previous moment, and the other face is the obligation to be better and better (standard requirement). Our experience shows that after the massive effort of achieving and certifying the system, most companies enter into a relaxation phase which is somehow understandable.

This relaxation which usually consist in not complying so strictly with own documented system is seen during the first internal audit, also during the first surveillance visit from assessment body. Relaxation is a regular phenomenon in the organization’s life, but the most massive one comes right after the certification. Expert’s opinion: why to double or triple your effort to get the same thing, when you can get it with a minimum effort, right from the beginning!

The support from Russell Romania (ISO 9000 Consulting) for maintaining and improving of existing system consist in performing the internal audits, also in preparation of management reviews (don’t forget that these two activities are required by ISO 9001:2000 standard). The benefits from this actions are straight forward: we know the specifics of organization! We know what were the difficulties encountered throughout entire previous process! We share the same vision regarding the future of your organization! That’s why we can provide you a real and valuable support in improving the system. Usually, within two years of support from us after the certification, your system will achieve the maximum performance.

Speaking of maximum performance... If you achieve it, then the organization is no longer qualified for ISO 9001:2000! The standard requires continual improvement of the system. If it is at the maximum level, you can’t improve it, meaning that a major non-conformance will be raised during next surveillance audit. However, this is a theory. All the time small improvements can take place, no matter if they are related strictly to documented system or to infrastructure, personnel, etc. Our advice on how you can further improve the system is useful all the time and improvement is your benefit...

You will want to know how much it costs a consultancy process. Unfortunately, we can’t provide you a cost for a project, because we’ll have to take in consideration many factors, like the type and complexity of your activities, the size of the company, the current level of management system, the qualification of personnel, the number of places where the company operates, etc. In order to provide you with a price quotation and a technical brief of the project, please fill up the form in section Quotation Form. One more thing: despite the huge amount of work provided by us during the project, our prices are quite attractive. Just give it a try...