QUALITY &
ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
Management System Consulting
When clients chose to formalize their business processes to an ISO 9001, AS9100, or ISO/TS 16949 Quality Management System Standard, ISO 14001 Environmental Management System Standard, or OSHAS 18001 Health and Safety Management System, they call upon QEM to help them develop and implement their management system. For those clients who have the internal resources, QEM can assume the role of Facilitator or Reviewer.
As Facilitator, we work directly with our client’s team to provide them guidance in their development of their quality or environmental management system. QEM offers tools including document templates and strategies for a successful implementation.
As Reviewer, our clients perform the majority of the documentation development and we provide a review to verify the documents meet the applicable standard requirements.
For those clients who have limited resources, or have a time constraint that requires them to dedicate additional support, QEM has become an extension of our client’s staff. In this role, we are an active team member, providing extensive on-site support. We work directly with our client’s staff to develop procedures, work instructions, and associated documents.
QEM has developed an 8-step process toward formal quality or environmental management system implementation.
This process is illustrated below:
Step 1
Gap Analysis
The Gap Analysis is the step where your organization's existing systems are identified and related to the quality or environmental standard requirements. In most cases, organizations already have many of the required elements in their current business practices, they just don’t know how and where they relate to the ISO standard.
Step 2
Project Plan & Team Training
A Project Plan identifies the implementation strategy and resources needed to develop the quality or environmental system. A Cross-functional Team (CFT) should be assembled and trained on the applicable standard requirements.
Step 3
Q/EMS Development
Brainstorming sessions with the CFT begin the development process. The output from these sessions is a series of process flow charts. The "outputs" from one process flow become the "inputs" to the next process. Typically, during this phase, redundancies and inefficiencies of existing systems are identified and actions are taken to streamline existing processes. The identification of the "interaction" of these processes is a valuable exercise.
Step 4
Q/EMS Documentation
Policies, procedures, work instructions, forms and other documents are developed to define the quality or environmental management system. These documents are then issued as "Controlled Documents."
Step 5
Internal Staff Training
Once the quality or environmental documentation is complete, the staff is trained to be sure everyone understands and is ready to implement the policies, procedures, and instructions.
Step 6
Internal Auditing
A team of internal personnel are trained on how to plan, perform and record internal audits. Audits are then conducted by your trained team of internal auditors to assess the degree of conformance to the company's ISO management system.
Step 7
Evaluation of the Q/EMS & Management Review
Results of the internal audits, customer feedback, status of Corrective and Preventive Actions, progress toward your Objectives and other performance data are reviewed by the company's Management Team to determine the suitability, adequacy and effectiveness of the quality or environmental system.
Step 8
Registration
If the organization chooses to pursue a third-party registration or certification of their Q/EMS, a "Registrar" performs an independent audit to assess the degree of conformance to the applicable standard.