Sample section of rationale ISO 9000 Quality Policy Manual. Also refer to business improvement, organization, TQM, Total Quality Management, procedures, work instructions, ASQ, Ron Kurtus, School for Champions. Copyright © Restrictions
Sample ISO 9000 Quality Policy Manual - Sec. 0.0 - 3.0
by Ron Kurtus (revised 29 November 2005)
The following material consists of initial sections 0.0, 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0 of a Quality Policy Manual, used to satisfy the ISO 9001 standard. This material follows the rationale approach to stating company policies and is intended as an example of this approach as well as a sample of a Quality Manual.
For other sections, refer to the Manual Table of Contents
0.0 Introduction
We, in our company, have developed a system of policy statements, operating procedures, and work instructions. The purpose of these documents is to assure the quality of the products and services we provide to our external customers (those who purchase our goods), as well as to assure the quality of the work we do and the parts and products we pass on to our internal customers. This "quality system" guides our managers in achieving our goals of reducing wasteful practices and maintaining customer satisfaction.
This quality system also complies with the international standard ISO 9001-1987, and its technical equivalent, ANSI/ASQC Q91. ISO 9001 sets requirements for the various aspects of manufacturing and covers the design, production, installation and servicing of our products.
In our quality system, we follow three major steps for compliance to ISO 9001:
- First, we state our commitment to adhere to those requirements through our policy statements.
- We then provide the necessary details of what we do and who is responsible for satisfying those commitments through our operating procedures.
- Finally, we state the specific work instructions of how to implement the requirement, along with records or check-sheets to verify that implementation.
This Quality Policy Manual is the first part of achieving our goals through complying with the ISO 9001 standards.
1.0 Scope
The scope of this document is to demonstrate the capability of Kurtus Technologies to develop, supply, and maintain their products and services. Following the ISO 9001 standards does this.
The policies specified are primarily aimed at achieving customer satisfaction by preventing nonconformity at all stages from design through to servicing.
The ISO 9001 standards are applicable in situations when:
- Design is required and the product requirements are stated principally in performance terms or they need to be established and
- Confidence in product conformance can be attained by adequate demonstration of our capabilities in design, development, production, installation and servicing.
2.0 References
The following standards contain provisions that, through reference in this text, constitute provisions of ANSI/ISO/ASQC Q90000-3-1991. At the time of publication, the editions indicated were valid. All standards are subject to revision, and parties to agreements based on ANSI/ISO/ASQC Q9000-3-1991 are encouraged to investigate the possibility of applying the most recent editions of the standards indicated below. The American National Standards Institute and members of IEC and ISO maintain registers of currently valid American National Standards and International Standards.
- ANSI/ISO/ASQC A8402- 1994, Quality Management and Quality Assurance-Vocabulary
- ANSI/ISO/ASQC Q9001-1994, Quality Systems Model for Quality Assurance in Design, Development, Production, Installation, and Servicing
- ANSI ISO/ASQC Q10011-1-1994, Guidelines for Auditing Quality Systems Auditing
- ISO 2382-1 :1984, Data Processing-Vocabulary-Part 01: Fundamental terms
3.0 Definitions of major terms
To make sure there are no misunderstandings as to what we mean by certain words and phrases that are in this document the following are definitions of major terms:
Activities affecting quality
Activities affecting quality are those job duties that affect the quality of the products we make and deliver. Every activity in our business affects quality.
Commitment to quality
Commitment to quality is the commitment to providing quality goods or services. That is, to make items to specification or as promised.
Company policy statements
The policy of a company is the course of action the company commits to, or pledges to take, on a specific issue.
External customers
The people outside the company who buy our products or pay for our services are our external customers. Note that these people may or may not be the actual users of the product or service.
Internal customers
Every work activity consists of an order, work done, delivery, and payment. The person making the order must also provide the funding for the work done. He or she is considered the internal customer.
Objectives for quality
Objectives for quality are those objectives that will result in satisfying the customer through making quality products.
Operating procedures
Operating procedures are the statements of how a specific policy statement will be implemented. Also, in order for a policy to be implemented, it is necessary for someone to be responsible for that implementation.
Quality of products and services
The quality of a product or service means that it fulfills the contracted specification and is delivered on time and at the agreed-upon cost. A quality product works and lasts as long as promised. A quality service gets the job done as promised.
Sometimes features or requirements are not stated in the specification but are assumed or expected by the customer. Care must be taken not to let this happen.
Quality policy
Our quality policy consists of the philosophy, rules, or way of doing business related to making quality goods or providing quality services. In other words, it is the series of statements that we provide our customers concerning what we promise them and thus what they expect.
Quality system
A quality system consists of documented policies, procedures, and work instructions that lead to and guide the delivery of quality products and services, as promised to the customer.
Rationale policy
A rationale' policy states what the company's activity is, and give the logic or reasoning behind a policy on that activity in terms of a solution to a possible problem and the benefits of such action to the company.
Training needs
Training needs are certified education and/or on-the-job training required for a specific job description.
Work instructions
Work instructions are specific step-by-step details of how to do a certain task.
Resources
The following are some resources on this topic.
Websites
ISO Online - International Organization for Standardization website
ISO 9000 References and Resources
Books
Miscellaneous
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Sample Quality Manual: 0.0 Introduction