An effective, well-implemented Quality Management System (QMS) enables organizations to improve their bottom line through increase performance visibility. A QMS that takes a complete life-cycle approach to quality management will track all of the nonconformances, corrective actions, workflow processes, tasks, documents, and resources associated with quality in real-time.  In addition, best-in-class organizations continue to improve and strengthen  their quality management system after the initial implementation. In an effort to help organizations within the automotive industry to facilitate this improvement The Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG) recently announced they will be offering two courses designed to help organizations strengthen their Quality Management Systems.

The first course is “Effective Audit Findings for Continual Improvement.” Using audit findings as a method of identifying problems with a QMS and facilitating improvements based on these findings is an effective way to strengthen your QMS. But sometimes these findings are missing criteria, lack objective evidence, can be difficult to interpret or lack a focus on continual improvement. This course, intended for internal auditors, management representatives, second-party auditors, and certification body auditors will shine some light on how to make the most of your audit findings. As the AIAG website describes, “this course uses a practical approach to explain how to develop and document effective findings and nonconformity reports. Using workgroup activities and hands-on participation, instruction will help quality managers and organizations improve the quality of the findings written by internal auditors.”

The second course is “Mastering the Process Approach Step By Step.” As ISO standards require all service and manufacturing industries to understand, implement and monitor a QMS using a process approach, this course intended for internal auditors, management representatives, process owners, process implementers, quality personnel, certification body auditors, and second-party auditors will outline the necessary steps to master the process approach. As the AIAG website states, “Whether your organization processes foods, manufactures aerospace components, assembles automotive modules or delivers furniture, you need to understand the fundamentals and benefits of the process approach if you plan to become, or are currently certified to an ISO standard.” This course walks you through the process development tools demonstrating how to use them and explaining the difference between an elemental approach with threads-through clauses as opposed to the process approach with process audit trails.

Both courses run from 8 AM to 5 PM and are being offered on multiple dates beginning this June and running until December. Visit the AIAG’s website at www.aiag.org  for specific dates, costs and location.

The ASQ World Conference for Quality and Improvement is being held at the Minneapolis Convention Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota from May 18-20, 2009. This year, Intelex will be sending three representatives; Bevin Lyon, Daniel Marcus, and Tomas Kuras. The guys will be available for live demonstrations of our:

Quality Management System Nonconformance & Corrective Actions Module Document Control System Training Management System Supplier Performance Tracking Module Audits Management System, and more.

If you're already using Intelex's software please stop by for a visit! It’s always great to catch up with clients.

Intelex Technologies has released its latest software innovation, the Intelex OpenPass API, a revolutionary application programming interface that will enable its users to sync and report data between multiple business management systems.

The Intelex OpenPass API functions as a conduit for seamlessly feeding data between multiple software programs. This means that Intelex’s environment, quality, and health & safety, and business management Software can now share data with pre-existing business software applications; thereby, saving time and resources while maintaining a degree of accuracy that’s difficult to achieve when data is transmitted manually.

The City of Calgary and St. Gobain are the first Intelex clients to take advantage of the OpenPass API.  The City of Calgary used our OpenPass API to import employee and location data from their pre-existing HR system into their Intelex System. They also used the OpenPass API to export employee injury data (i.e., incident number with date and time stamp) from Intelex’s Master Incidents Module into their HR program.

St. Gobain used the OpenPass API to import training courses, employee lists, and employee workgroup data from Lotus Notes into the Intelex System and Training Management Module. By using the OpenPass API St. Gobain was able to quickly populate their new Intelex System with historical data that will be a key factor in reporting accuracy and trending.

If you think that your organization could use the Intelex OpenPass API to import, export, and sync data between a pre-existing management program and your Intelex System, send an email to client.relations@intelex.com or call 416.599.6009 for more details.

Free Management Review Scorecards and Configurable Reports are now available on the Intelex-Exchange.  Learn how to import them directly into your Intelex System for effective Management Review Meeting reporting. 

SCORECARDS
Management Review - Overdue Scheduled Reviews
Management Review - Overdue Follow Ups
Management Review - Current Year Scheduled vs. Completed Meetings by Type
Management Review - Current Year Completed vs. Scheduled Meetings by Month

CONFIGURABLE REPORTS
Management Review - Current Year Scheduled Reviews by Meeting Type
Management Review - Previous Year Reviews
Management Review - Follow Up History
Management Review - Current Year Follow Ups by Meeting
Management Review - Follow Ups Next 90 Days
Management Review - Completed Follow Ups Last 30 Days

It's not uncommon to hear about organizations working feverishly to develop effective quality and environmental management programs so that ISO 9001 or ISO 14001 certifications can be attained. While securing these certifications is a great accomplishment, implementing a web-based software application after the fact is a trend Intelex's Account Managers are not unfamiliar with.After discussions with organizations such as these, it’s often the case that the ISO implementation team was unaware that web-based quality and environmental management systems can actually help work toward this certification, as opposed to simply maintaining a compliant status.

Intelex's web-based Quality and Environmental Management Systems are designed to help organizations implement ISO standards and maintain ongoing compliance. Both Intelex's Quality and Environmental Management Systems function as frameworks enabling organizations to define an ISO registration schedule, identify project objectives, record policies, assign and track ISO tasks, manage all ISO-related documents, and provide real-time implementation progress reports. And because the Intelex System operates on a web-based platform, your organization's "ISO Portal" can be securely accessed by any approved employee with access to the internet.

The main takeaway here, is that organizations that purchase web-based quality or environmental management systems like the Intelex System, consistently report faster ISO registration turnaround times and more effective use of intellectual resources. When combined, these factors typically translate into significant cost savings.

If your organization has identified becoming ISO 9001:2008 or ISO 14001 registered as a business objective in 2009, save yourself time and money by speaking with an Intelex Account Manager first. Our account managers will be able to provide valuable insights, implementation best practices, and a no-obligation quote.

In May 2008, a revision of ISO 9001, the world’s most popular standard for quality management systems (over one million certificates issued in 170 countries), was submitted for approval.

The International Organization for Standardization’s official press release (June 17, 2008) explained that “The proposed ISO 9001:2008 does not introduce additional requirements compared to the last edition in 2000 and does not change the intent of ISO 9001:2000.”

The November 2008 issue of Quality Digest magazine said ISO 9001:2008 “clarifies requirements in outsourcing, document control, and customer relations ... Many of the changes are designed to bring about better compatibility between ISO 9001 and the ISO 14001 environmental management systems standard.”

For a document detailing ISO 9001:2008 requirements visit the International Organization for Standardization’s website.

New Quality Nonconformance Dashboards and Scorecards have been posted on the Intelex-Exchange.  Import them directly into your Intelex System to further streamline your organization's Quality Nonconformance reporting.

DASHBOARDS
Quality Nonconformance Dashboard (1)
Quality Nonconformance Dashboard (2)

SCORECARDS
Configurable Report Scorecards:
Quality Nonconformances by Product - Current Year
Quality Nonconformances by Process - Current Year
Quality Nonconformances – Corrective/Preventive Actions
Closed Quality Nonconformances – Current Year
Quality Nonconformances – Completed Corrective/Preventive Actions
Quality Nonconformances – Corrective/Preventive Actions Next 30 Days
Quality Nonconformances – Corrective/Preventive Actions by Month
Quality Nonconformances – Overdue Corrective/Preventive Actions
Quality Nonconformances – Current Month
Quality Nonconformances by Customer
Quality Nonconformances – Last 90 Days
Quality Nonconformances – Last 90 Days by Department
Quality Nonconformances – Current Year
Quality Nonconformances by Status
Quality Nonconformances by Type and Month – Current Year
Quality Nonconformances – Current vs. Previous Year

Graphical Scorecards:
Quality Nonconformances by Type
Total Quality Nonconformances – Current Year
Quality Nonconformances – Corrective/Preventive Actions
Quality Nonconformance Status – Current Year

Search Component Scorecards:
Quality Nonconformances – Search by Record Number
Quality Nonconformances – Search by Date Reported
Quality Nonconformances – Corrective/Preventive Actions Search by Action Number
Quality Nonconformances – Corrective/Preventive Actions Search by Record Number

Other Scorecards:
Quality Nonconformances – Toolbar Scorecard
Quality Nonconformances – Tab Scorecard
Quality Nonconformances – Task List Scorecard
Quality Nonconformances – Related Reports
Quality Nonconformances – Metric Scorecard

The topic of managing environment, quality, and safety business processes under a single management program has become a popular topic in 2008. More and more, organizations are recognizing the reciprocal relationship that each of these business areas has on the other. In a 2008 whitepaper entitled Gaining Competitive Advantage Through Environmental, Health, Safety, and Quality Programs the author uses the following example to illustrate this point:

"… changing a process or procedure in one area without considering the impact on all areas could improve performance where the change is made but actually harm performance in other areas. For instance, replacing a chemical sanitizer in the laundry processes at a hospital with a less-toxic organic alternative might win points in the environmental category, but if the alternative is less effective at sterilizing linens and a spike in infections results, then quality has been diminished"

Simply put, environment, quality, and safety business processes should never be addressed in isolation of one another. Every organization, regardless of whether it manufactures a product or provides a service, works toward the goal of continuous improvement.  Each business decision presents an opportunity to replace inefficiency with productivity, waste with value, and status quo with leadership.  One of the surest ways to achieve this goal is by implementing an integrated management system specifically designed to drive continual improvement and improve your bottom line across all areas of your business.

You can obtain a copy of the whitepaper mentioned in this post by submitting a request to Intelex.

Among the many regulations overseen by the Food and Drug Administration, there is one pertaining specifically to electronic records and signatures generated by computer systems - 21 CFR Part 11.  The FDA's purpose here is to ensure that electronic records and signatures are trustworthy, reliable and compatible with the FDA's mission of safeguarding public health.  Section 11.10 of the regulation requires procedures and controls to be put in place that "ensure the authenticity, integrity, and, when appropriate, the confidentiality of electronic records".  Intelex offers a validation pack that is designed to test your system's compliance to these requirements. For more information, please contact an Intelex representative.

According to the International Organization for Standardization [ISO], ISO 9000 and ISO 14001 are the most well-known and frequently adopted management standards. To date over 100,000,000 million organizations across 161 countries haveachieved these certifications.

_{© 2008 ISO- Used with the permission of ISO Central Secretariat.}

The ISO 9000 standards were designed to regulate quality management while ISO 14001 focuses on environmental management. Both standards aim to drive continual improvement intheir respective areas.