I own a daycare business and was recently cited by the State of Connecticut for numerous process-related violations. So who was at fault, my employees who didn't follow my verbal instructions or I who didn't give them written process instructions. I think the answer is obvious that I was at fault. I'm the business owner. Needless to say, I needed help and needed it fast. Since I read quite a bit about six sigma initiatives, I knew that if I followed the methodologies given, I would be able to solve the cited violations quickly. The more I reviewed my problems the more I became confused. After evaluating my daycare's operating processes, I have determined that applying six sigma practices wouldn't give me everything I needed, because it was not a preventive system. It was a process repair system, problem at a time, and it would cost me an arm and a leg to install it. No. I said. Six Sigma would continue pinpointing my problems alright after my employees made them, but I can't afford running my business through the analysis of statistical charts. I cannot accept piling up additional problems while one is being corrected. I needed total prevention in my operations from the beginning to the end, from everybody, including myself. This is where Mr. Gaal's book guided me in writing my procedures to prevent problems from taking over my business. I flowcharted all my business processes the same way as the author did in his "Training Metrics". I followed the same layout, process numbering, work-title, responsibility identification and process instructions for quality objectives the same way as Mr. Gaal did. Except, I tailored everything to suit my operations. Now I took the citations and made them quality objectives and plugged them in as were needed under the various sub-processes in the operations' flow cycle. For sure, if I didn't put in the quality objectives in terms of measurable quality objectives, in due time, my employees would have made mistakes again possibly in every process step - a different kind than the citation identified, a different kind for a new citation later. Now I can monitor everybody's job actions from the recorded data and take on-spot corrective action on violations. I'm doing in-process continual improvements. No hassle, no added cost, no statistics, and most importantly, no misunderstanding. The quality objective procedures in flowchart format do it all. Process by process, they are my procedures, the instructions, check sheets, audit sheets. They are my records. When the State did the follow-up audit, they not only found a fualtless operation, but I was the first daycare in the State with no problems found on re-audit. I received my daycare license for two more years on the spot.
Later on, I will create my quality management system straight from this book, for it has a lot more real information and examples than I will ever need on how to prevent mistakes. This book puts on a new face about how to implement ISO requirements that is actually putting money in my pocket.
What prompted me to read this book was the first of the features found on the back cover. "Serves as a Six Sigma tool for implementing cross-functional integration and standerdization." I looked up the Table of Contents but found no heading for this subject. So I started reading the book, here and there. I discovered right of way that this book is not based on herd mentality as most ISO books I read were. Within a short time, I found that process integration and standardization was not a separate subject but a structural, procedural requirement, a vital part of the whole process-approach framework. The surprising thing here was that process integration and standardization in the whole process-approach system was a way of doing things, a natural result of team interaction. One sees this right of way that a collaboritive action is going on here in logical order to tie cross-functional team activities together. By applying this method, the author achieved full control of each individual process as that process impacted other processes in the work cycle. It also answered the ever present question that six sigma trained personnel frequently face: where and how to flow down and document continual improvements in a quality system lacking integration in cross-functional activities. The work responsibilities here are clearly identified as to process ownership and titled and unmistakably indexed in every procedure. No questions arise where things belong. In addition, the referencing mechanism in this book is model to imitate.
Something previously unheard of that relates to the concept of defining quality objective requirements, I found in this book totally convincing to emulate. While most of us think of quality objectives in general terms, the author on the other hand gives specific requirements for them in each work process and presents them in measurable terms. The beginning and the end in each process instruction become the tolerance boundary of the quality objective requirement. This method is applied everywhere whether one does administrative or production related work. The measurable work results become the objective criteria for monitoring and auditing conformity. What is truly exceptional in this process-approach system is how the work results are accomplished. The work methods instructions are not part of any measurable quality objective requirement. The process instructions control all activities. How you achieve the work results to meet the quality objective requirements is now up to the trained personnel doing the work. The author excluded the work methods definitions from the documented quality management system and thereby eliminated a large chunk of paperwork. He charged Engineering to define work methods in the Job Travelers and in the Operation Sheets as required. What this means is that, unless otherwise required, I can do my work the most efficient way I'm trained and meet a process requirement without strapping my hands to the elaborately written work instruction procedures. I think this is a very significant improvement over current practices in the economical utilization of manpower.
In conclusion, if you are looking for a quality management book that also meets ISO requirements and that shows you how to prevent problems in shop management, this is the one that should have your fingerprints all over it. I also recommend this book for blackbelts and quality engineers to guide them in the understanding on how to implement, integrate, document, and control customer requirements and quality improvements in the work processes of your organization. It is clearly and simply written without burdening the reader with theories or six sigma statistics.
Mr. Gaal's book is based on how to satisfy customers' requirements through process controls. He puts the emphasis on achieving product quality through first-time production maintenance. He proves through his fully documented system that product quality is a lot more than just a shop problem. Although most problems end up there because of the way we handle cross-functional activities, the contributing causes,however, originate from the lack of coordination and interfacing of those activities within the entire organizational stucture. He corrects all these through a fully documented quality management system based on integration and interfacing of all cross-functional responsibilities in one direction, - managing the entire product quality cycle from beginning to end through measurable quality objectives. The customer, the supplier, and the organization itself are very effectively coordinated and inter-linked in the product realization processes. As I see it, this is really a closed-loop process management system. And it is cleverly executed by the locked-in corrective action follow-up to prove effective implementation. Without effective follow-up, closure of the improvement action cannot take place.
As I'm implementing sections of this book in my organization, I am guided to understand the interrelationship of processes and their quality requirements. This is truly a Quality Throughput system from the beginning to the end in a product's manufacturing cycle. The written communication tools in this book, especially flowcharting, targeting core departmental interactions in maintaining the achievement of product quality in line with customer requirements, are superbly followed through. Process ownership becomes part of the job in each process assignment from the contract activities to the shipping dock. I would call this book the show-me-how-to-do handbook in managing product quality in cross-functional organizations. Up-front problem prevention is the name of the game in this book. I love it.