In today’s fast-paced world, complexity often becomes a significant barrier to efficiency and productivity. Whether it is a business workflow, a software development cycle, or a personal task management system, complex processes can hinder performance, lead to errors, and cause frustration. Simplifying these processes is crucial to achieve better outcomes with less effort. This article provides some practical steps for simplifying … Read more
If you read our posts regularly, you’ll realize that we’re pretty positive about how Quality can drive business performance. There’s loads of good evidence out there that focusing on your customer through your processes and business improvement initiatives can deliver great results. However, not everything always runs to plan; sometimes, quality initiatives fail to deliver on their initial promise. There can be a few varied reasons as to why this happens and … Read more
All businesses experience some level of challenge, whether it’s systems or processes not working properly, issues in production, problems with customers, or a myriad of other issues that may arise. Ignoring problems is unlikely to be beneficial in the long run. What distinguishes effective businesses from others is their ability to problem-solve. When faced with an issue it’s important to rapidly … Read more
As you may know, we’ve recently been writing about ISO 9001. You can check out some of our articles here Introduction to ISO 9001, ISO 9001 Key Benefits, Common challenges when implementing ISO 9001). As we drafted these articles, it reminded us just how important effective change management is and that it plays a pivotal role in the success of Quality Management System initiatives. … Read more
Visual Management is a methodology used by businesses with the goal of improving communication, organization, safety and efficiency by using visual indicators and easy-to-understand cues which provide relevant and contextual information to employees and stakeholders about business activities. There are various types of visual management systems, each with particular pros and cons. When implementing a … Read more
Many companies use 5S to improve efficiency within their workplace. Its principles, focusing on establishing a clean and well-organized work environment, can bring about improvements in several areas, from safety to quality and productivity. However, many organizations struggle to sustain the changes implemented and, as a result, fail to obtain planned benefits. As a result … Read more
Mistake Proofing is a continuous improvement methodology used to drive quality by preventing errors from occurring within a process. Mistake proofing is achieved by identifying potential sources of mistakes and then implementing safeguards in order that such mistakes can be prevented. For example, by implementing limit switches on equipment within a manufacturing environment, we can … Read more
Process capability analysis is a statistical methodology that uses data to determine a process’s capability and performance, specifically its ability to repeatedly produce an output that meets specifications. The methodology provides a systematic approach when evaluating the performance of a process enabling a better understanding of variability and complying with specifications. In today’s article, we’ll … Read more
A Process behaviour chart is a tool used within quality control and process improvement to assess and describe a process’s variability over time. Through capturing (and interpreting) variability in process output, an organization can gain an understanding of causes such as random acts vs predictable patterns. The insight gained can be used in activities such … Read more
Standardized work in Six Sigma (Lean Six Sigma) refers to a methodology of determining and documenting the most efficient and effective way of executing a given process whilst obtaining consistency and repeatability. This methodology will typically involve identifying each step within a process and then, whilst being aware of influencing factors such as materials, tools, … Read more