I'm normally a bit of a road warrior, so this whole quarantine thing has really been an adjustment.  I do most of my work on-site helping clients improve their businesses, and I have a really divers...

Ok, let's start by talking about what error-proofing really is.  According to the American Society for Quality, "Mistake proofing, or its Japanese equivalent poka-yoke (pronounced PO-ka yo-KAY), is th...

It’s very likely that your management system did not include a contingency for a global pandemic.  But it is a fantastic opportunity for us to learn something from it.

Many companies create emergency...

Well, this is it, folks!

Thank you to everyone for your participation for the past 52 weeks.  Your comments have been thought provoking and helpful to many.  And with so many companies beginning to s...

9.3 Management Review

This week’s topic is near and dear to my heart.  Every business I’ve worked with has underutilized this tool.  Many companies do it simply to meet the requirement, and do not fu...

9.2 Internal audit (9.2.1, 9.2.2)

This week is a double feature to include the entire 9.2 Internal audit clause.  Internal audits are one of the most underutilized tools in management systems.  The w...

9.1.2 Customer satisfaction

Let me start this week’s discussion with the observation that this section is awkwardly constructed (in my opinion).  The section introduces itself as being about performa...

9 Performance evaluation

9.1.1 General

We are starting to enter the place where organizations can lose their way and ultimately miss out on the intended value-add they’re looking for when they decid...

8.7 Control of nonconforming outputs

This week’s topic is one that is very clearly defined and universally applicable.  There is very little subjectivity in the requirements and they are listed in a ...

8.6 Release of products and services

This week’s topic, “release of products and services” is a nuts and bolts component of most quality systems.  As products and services are manufactured or created...