- Auditing
- Cost of Quality
- Customer Satisfaction and Value
- Data Quality
- Design of Experiments
- Environmental Manag. and Sustainability
- Global Quality
- Innovation
- ISO 14000
- ISO 9000
- Leadership
- Lean
- Metrics
- Problem Solving
- Process Management
- Product Development and Recall
- Quality Assurance
- Quality Control
- Quality Management
- Quality Tools
- Reliability
- Safety
- Six Sigma
- Small Business
- Social Responsibility
- Standards
- Statistics
- Supplier Quality
- Teams
- ISO/TS 16949
- ISO 22000
- ISO 26000
- Compliance
- Certification/Registration (management system Standards)
- Risk Management
- Food Safety
- Economic Case for Quality
- Certification (ASQ)
- Continuous Improvement
Expert Answers: March 2013
Supplier audits ... Requiring ISO certification...
Five at the Forefront
ISO 19011:2011 is an international standard that provides guidance on auditing management systems. Using ISO 19011 is not mandatory, and organizations are not required to reference this standard in their auditing procedures....
Online Figures - Ramsay
Year Verct( dys) # Rpts FinRpts InvTech #_ Staff 2003 296 31 13 1.00 216 2004 829 24 11 2.24 190 2005 309 22 12 1.65 210 2006 222 22 9 2.35 225 2007 171 17 5 3.58 247 Verct( dys) = verification of claims cycle time # rpts = number of reports for the boar...
Rain Gauge
The Six Sigma define, measure, analyze, design and verify process is appropriate for exceedingly complex engineering construction problems that require the use of simulation and design of experiments....
(Re)visionary Thinking
The preeminent ISO standard on environmental management, ISO 14001, is being revised to incorporate new approaches in the field of environmental management systems and meet stakeholder expectations that have evolved since it was first published in 1996....
Pointed in the Right Direction
Last November, ISO published a new edition of ISO 19011—Guidelines for Auditing Management Systems. This marks a further evolution in management system auditing and in ISO’s approach to the drafting of management system standards....
Valuable Resource
Talent development is addressed in three key components of sustainability management systems: international standards, social responsibility (SR) reporting and performance excellence frameworks....
Perspectives: Taken for Granted
The ISO 9000 series is Quality 101, and as quality practitioners, we should never forget it....
Standards Outlook: The Missing Link
In most organizations, quality and finance behave like independent silos, resulting in excessive costs and unhappy customers and investors....
Online Tables Standards Outlook
Developed the following business process measures: 4 � documented results of management review meetings 5 � Customer satisfaction measures 5 � Measurable objectives used in product or service improvement 1 � balanced scorecard ( please indicate measures ...
Getting on Track
ISO 26000 is here. Are you ready? Maybe the better question is: Do you care? You should. ISO 26000 Guidance on Social Responsibility has been touted as the new standard that can help manage social responsibility issues at your organization....
Getting on Track/Por el Buen Camino
ISO 26000 is here. Are you ready? Maybe the better question is: Do you care? You should. ISO 26000 Guidance on Social Responsibility has been touted as the new standard that can help manage social responsibility issues at your organization....
Standards Outlook: Remote Control
When you start talking about remote auditing—or e-audits—around a group of auditors, you will hear plenty of strong opinions. Some auditors are vehemently opposed, while others are open to the idea....
Salary Survey 2010: Part 1, Section 4: Salary by ASQ and RABQSA International Certification
For four straight years, the number of survey respondents not holding any ASQ certifications has fallen. This year, 59.1% of respondents reported that they have one or more ASQ certifications, and 24.9% said they hold two or more certifications....
Salary Survey 2010: The Complete Report
experience by gender / FIGURE 2 More than 20 years 10.1- 20 years 6.1- 10 years 3.1- 6 years $ 6,000 Male Years of experience in quality profession Years of experience in quality profession Female $ 4,000 $ 2,000 0 $ 2,000 $ 4,000 $ 6,000 1- 3 years Less...
Standards Outlook: The Bottom Line
Quality and environmental managers need to understand the language of finance and the effect of operations on the bottom line, while financial managers need to know how quality and environmental managers can help improve results....
Sustainable Future
The new international standard ISO 9004:2009—managing for the sustained success of an organization—a quality management approach, brings quality management to a new area of sustained success. The standard adds a new term, sustained success...
Two in One
The terms risk analysis, risk assessment and risk management—often used interchangeably—can mean a variety of different concepts and metrics. There is no one single approach to risk management....
Career Corner: Right, Wrong, Good, Bad or Indifferent?
Although the new guidance standard for social responsibility (SR), ISO 26000, will be a completely voluntary guidance standard—not a certification standard1—how best to implement and sustain the organizational behaviors it will prescribe deserves...
Expert Answers: December 2009
Continual vs. continuous ... Setting up a data set....
Standards Outlook: Remaining Relevant
Without changes, ISO 9001 risks becoming irrelevant on the world stage. So, what new ideas should be included in the next edition?...
Think Again
If we stop and contemplate why we think of audit results as pass or fail, we may become more aware of how our mentality affects the way we behave during an audit and how that mind-set influences others....
Measure for Measure: Conscientious Calibrations
There are compelling reasons for an organization to get certified to a standard, but one that gets overlooked is the impact on the environment....
Career Corner: A Win-Win Situation
The ASQ Fellows Mentoring Program is a no-cost opportunity to sharpen your knowledge and skills and focus your management, consulting and career coaching experience on helping a person wants and appreciates guidance....
Small Change, Big Impact
Little has changed in the fourth edition of ISO 9001, which was issued late last year by the International Organization for Standardization. ISO 9001:2008 contains no new requirements, so the transition should be painless for most organizations....
Perspectives: First, Do No Harm
Healthcare costs in the United States are increasing at staggering rates. In fact, last year’s employer health insurance premiums increased by 5%, which is two times the rate of inflation....
Human Touch
“No job is so important, nor service so urgent, that we cannot take the time to perform our work safely.” Those familiar with the old Bell System will remember this safety creed. It helped guide many decisions in potentially dangerous situations....
Standards Outlook: Dynamic Duo
Lean and Six Sigma are two methods aimed at improving the quality of an organization’s operations and its financial results. Both concentrate on customer satisfaction and improved business performance....
Standards Outlook: Conducting a Document Review
Some industry sectors require documentation that has word-for-word traceability between the MS documentation and audit criteria. For internal audits, document reviews can be part of a routine audit of an area, rather than a separate document review. Docum...
Drill Deep for Strategic Alignment
Internal auditors must understand an organization’s strategy and how each process fits into that strategy. Internal auditing for strategic alignment and execution requires that the auditor understand the organization’s desired strategy and how each proces...
Smooth Approach
Traditional internal audits fulfill a need for companies with fresh ISO 9001 implementations. But for organizations with mature systems, an innovative approach called an appreciative internal quality audit can take them beyond compliance to excellence....
Energize Your QMS
Changes to the ISO 9001:2008 amendment are high benefit and low impact. This position stated the following: "ISO 9001:2008 has been developed to introduce clarifications to the existing requirements of ISO 9001:2000 and changes that are intended to improv...
Standards Outlook: Down With Silos
Businesses today have multiple management systems, including financial, quality and environmental. Unfortunately, these management systems usually do not talk to one another....
10 Auditing Rules
All auditors receive training in the basics of planning, conducting and reporting audits. Unfortunately, this is the only training many ever receive....
Two Are Better Than One
Management need and my personal curiosity recently led me to take a closer look at the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX). My work pointed out similarities and differences between SOX and ISO 9001....
Standards Outlook: Off to a Good Start
Clause 6.2.6 of the U.S. supplement for the International Organization for Standardization's (ISO) auditing standard provides guidelines for establishing initial contact with the auditee....
Expert Answers: April 2008
Probability of failure ... Deming's contributions....
The Great Debate
Two auditors meet over breakfast. One is a quality management system (QMS) auditor and the other an environmental management system (EMS) auditor....
Strong Foundation, Solid Future
In the wake of the scandals five years ago that shook consumer confidence in business leaders and the economy, I co-wrote an article about the resurgence of social responsibility on the corporate landscape and increased public awareness on the topic....
Standards Outlook: How to Manage Risk in a Global Economy
The global economy has provided opportunities that didn’t exist just 10 years ago. But the flattening of the Earth via the internet and extensive outsourcing to countries such as China and Mexico have also presented organizations with many risks....
Sharpen Your Auditing Skills
Effective audits require effective audit planning. One of the best tools to help guide both the planning and execution of an audit is the audit checklist....
Standards Outlook: Product vs. System Quality
We live in an era in which complex and technologically advanced products are produced on a regular basis. Little concern is given to the engineering and advanced process capabilities that are required to produce them....
QMS Certification: Down With Disillusionment
Conformity assessment and international standards that cover products and quality and environmental management systems provide mechanisms to ensure the quality of goods and services, but a recent survey reveals that the various certification bodies...
ASQ Team Says QMS and EMS Standards Support SOX
The intent of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) was to make the financial system of control more transparent and to reduce the incidence of corporate fraud. It soon became evident, however, that compliance with the law’s auditing requirements would be...
A Recipe for Safe Food: ISO 22000 and HACCP
Although food safety experts maintain that the U.S. food supply is one of the safest in the world, three recent food recalls raise the question of how food supplies can remain safe in a global environment. Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point...
Career Corner: The New Job Security
Security is an international issue that crosses borders. In today's asymmetric war on terrorism, everyone and everything are possible targets....
Standards Outlook: ISO 14001 Hits 10-Year Mark
It has been 10 years since the ISO 14001 standard on environmental management systems (EMSs) was first published....
Quality Glossary
Five years after it published its first glossary of quality terms, ASQ has revised that glossary with updated definitions and new entries, many from the lean glossary published in 2005. This reference of terms, acronyms, and prominent figures in the...
Standards Outlook: Preparing and Structuring an Audit Report
Preparing a quality management system (QMS) or environmental management system (EMS) audit report can be a hurried, punch list--a list of minor things to be completed at the end of a project....
Standards Outlook: Why a New ISO 9004?
In the rush that is today's business environment, we often worry more about details than we do the big picture....
Quality Goes to College
Higher education is seeing increased interest in quality management methods in response to the federal government's recommendation that they embrace the culture of continuous innovation and quality improvement. An overview is given of the types of...
Know and Follow ISO 19011's Auditing Principles
The auditing principles of ISO 19011 call for ethical conduct, fair presentation, professional care, independence, and an evidence based approach. The ethical conduct principle is realized throughout the standard because it is the cornerstone of...
Standards Outlook: Environmental Standards Development--Why You Should Be Involved
At the last meeting of the U.S. technical advisory group on environmental management, attendees discussed the important issues being decided at the subcommittee meetings of International Organization for Standardization technical committee (TC) 207....
Salary Survey – 2006
Regular Employee - Section 16. Salary by RABQSA Certification
RABQSA offers many certification programs, so they.re divided between two groups and presented in Tables A and B. Of the U. S. respondents who are certified, 33.8% are quality management systems ( QMS) lead auditors, making that certification the most fr...
Salary Survey – 2006
Self-Employed Consultant - Section 2. Base Earnings by Consulting Experience And RABQSA Certification
PART 2. SELF- EMPLOYED CONSULTANT RESULTS Section 2 Base Earnings by Consulting Experience And RABQSA Certification Standard Minimum Maximum deviation Count Mean Median United States Part- time Less than 1 year $ 0 $ 300,000 $ 45,319 54 $ 19,205 $ 5,000 ...
Salary Survey – 2006
Full Survey
44 Section 6. Salary by Number of Work Hours Online Section 7. Salary by Nonexempt vs. Exempt Status Online Section 8. Salary by Number of Years' Quality Experience and Highest Level of Education Online Section 9. Salary by Number of Years in Current Pos...
Salary Survey – 2006
Regular Employee - Section 4. Salary by ASQ and RABQSA Certification
70,278 69,878 71,960 82,944 75,000 Number of ASQ certifications ( percentage of respondents) One ( 70.7%) Two ( 19.9%) Three ( 5.6%) Four ( 3.4%) Five or more ( 0.4%) $ 0 $ 20,000 $ 40,000 $ 60,000 $ 80,000 Average salary ( Canadian dollars) $ 100,000 FI...
Standards Outlook: Generating Audit Findings and Conclusions
The ability to identify audit findings, communicate them and determine the audit conclusions is one of the skills that adds the most value to a management system audit....
Building Quality at Veridian Homes
Veridian Homes in Madison, Wisconsin uses several quality methods to improve productivity while reducing impact on the environment. To achieve its goal of promoting and coordinating quality throughout the company, the company employed the National...
Standards Outlook: Do Environmental Management Systems Improve Performance?
The debate regarding the value of environmental management systems arises from a lack of comparable, quantifiable data demonstrating companies with a formal EMS produce less environmental emissions, discharges and waste than companies without one....
Standards Outlook: Circling the Wagons
The U.S. technical advisory group to International Organization for Standardization technical committee 176 (ISO/TC 176) recently released a document called Quality Management Systems—Advice From ISO/TC 176 for Sector Specific Applications.1...
Standards Outlook: New Ideas and Expanded Use
With more than a half million organizations certified or registered to ISO 9001 and 14001, many say the development of management system standards (MSSs) has ended. But wait; is this really where things end? I would say the answer is no....
Steady Does It For DynMcDermott
DynMcDermott Petroleum Operations (DM) holds the maintenance and operations contract for the Department of Energy's strategic petroleum reserve. High DOE expectations prompted DM's Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award journey ten years ago when DM...
Making Social Responsibility the Standard
In 2003 the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) responded to pressure from large multinational enterprises by forming an advisory group to consider the need for a corporate social responsibility (CSR) standard. The result is ISO 26000:...
Career Corner: Your Future in Risk Management
Our engineering company conducts risk analyses and assessments in cyber security, infrastructure security, operational integrity and business continuity planning. And, business is booming. Why?...
New Standard Guides Internal and Supplier Audits
A supplement to enhance ISO 19011:2002, Guidelines on Quality and/or Environmental Management Systems Auditing, has been developed by U.S. experts. The supplement provides guidance for internal and supplier programs and the use of the standard by small...
Standards Outlook: Clarifying the Intent of ISO 14001.
Are you in the process of upgrading your organization’s environmental management system (EMS) to the revised ISO 14001 standard and stumped on the meaning of the new language or a new requirement in the standard?...
Salary Survey – 2005
Self-consultant - Section 2. Gross Revenues
Previous position 0% 10% 20% 30% Percentage of self- employed consultants 3.0 Other 0.3 Associate 0.3 Inspector 0.3 Reliability/ safety engineer 0.7 Champion 1.0 Coordinator 1.3 Technician 1.7 Analyst 1.7 Process/ manufacturing/ project engineer 2.0 Mast...
Salary Survey – 2005
Full Survey
45 Section 6. Salary by Number of Work Hours Online Section 7. Salary by Nonexempt vs. Exempt Status Online Section 8. Salary by Number of Years' Quality Experience and Highest Level of Education Online Section 9. Salary by Number of Years in Current Pos...
Salary Survey – 2005
Regular Employee - Section 16. Salary by RABQSA Certification
AS9100 aerospace QMS QMS QMS experience AS9100 QMS* internal lead provisional auditor auditor auditor auditor auditor auditor United States All respondents $ 80,226 20 $ 69,129 47 $ 77,393 108 $ 64,488 150 $ 72,866 240 $ 75,108 36 Analyst ,,0. TABLE B S...
Mitigate SOX Risk With ISO 9001 and 14001
The CEO and CFO of your company face risks every day. Of course, there are always the financial and competitive risks. But now, because of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX), those officers must certify......
Environmental Communication Standard on the Horizon
Is your organization holding an open house, issuing an environmental or sustainability report or responding to requests for information on environmental risks?...
Next Level Leadership
Soon after the Texas Nameplate Co. (TNC) won its first Baldrige Award in 1998, president and CEO Dale Crownover was already discussing how to improve TNC in a Baldrige way so the company could reapply for the award as soon as it was eligible. Now, not...
Two Controls, One Result
In the three years since the enactment of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX), implementing organizations have begun to realize that operating with separate SOX controls is expensive, and they are now looking for a way to integrate SOX controls into their...
ISO 14000 and Regulatory Compliance
There has been much debate about the effectiveness of the international environmental management system (EMS) standard, ISO 14001, in ensuring an organization has satisfactorily met its regulatory compliance obligations....
Salary Survey – 2004
Regular Employee - Section 16. Salary by RAB Certification
R E G U L A R E M P L O Y E E R E S U LT S Section 16. Salary by RAB Certification Average salary 59,108 65,800 67,533 AS9100 auditor AS9100 aerospace experience auditor No RAB certification U. S. auditors FIGURE A Comparison of U. S. Auditors With And W...
Salary Survey – 2004
Self-consultant - Section 2. Gross Revenues
Standard Minimum Maximum deviation Count Mean Median United States Part - time Less than 1 year $ 0 $ 18,000 $ 6,591 9 $ 8,678 $ 10,000 1 to 3 years 0 189,000 68,127 9 36,678 1,200 3.1 to 6 years 0 40,000 13,062 23 12,178 5,000 6.1 to 10 years 0 120,000 ...
Salary Survey – 2004
Full Survey
( For industrial classifications and all tables related QUALITY PROGRESS I DECEMBER 2004 I 25 $ $$$$ $$$$ $$ $$$ $$$ U. S. Salary Changes by Industry 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 Average Average Average Average Average Average salary Difference* salary ...
PetroChina's Strategic Planning Focused on Quality
PetroChina is a consortium of numerous previously state-owned small- to medium-sized oil companies. Despite modernization efforts taken to reposition itself in the global market, PetroChina faced strong competition from both foreign and domestic sources...
A Process Interaction Matrix
One of the requirements of ISO 9001 and ISO 13485, specified in paragraph 4.2.2c, requires a company to develop a quality manual that contains “a description of the interaction between the processes of the quality management system.”...
Next Generation ISO 14001
ISO 14001, the international standard on environmental management system (EMS) requirements, has been undergoing review and revision for five years....
Next generation ISO 14001.
ISO 14001, the international standard on environmental management system (EMS) requirements, has been undergoing review and revision for five years....
As Easy As 10001, 2, 3
A key element in maintaining high levels of customer satisfaction is having in place systems and processes for effective complaint management. Now the International Organization for Standardization is developing three new customer satisfaction standards...
Tips for Automotive Auditors
ISO 9000 has taken more than its fair share of criticism, largely due to the variation in international third-party conformity assessment....
Quality Practitioners and Effective Corporate Governance
Last October, Paul Palmes and I wrote an article describing how quality and environmental management systems (QMSs and EMSs) can help top management maintain effective corporate governance and satisfy the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) law....
Climbing Mount Sustainability
This year marks an anniversary of sorts for Interface Inc., which produces about 40% of the world’s commercial carpet tiles. Ten years ago, I challenged my company to a new way of thinking: to embrace a new paradigm...
ISO 14001 Revision Nears Completion
International Organization for Standardization, known as ISO, Technical Committee 207 has released the draft international standard (DIS) for the revised version of ISO 14001....
The Triple Top Line
Quality and sustainability are intertwined and provide win/win/win solutions for both the short-term and long-term effects of design on social responsibility, environmental performance and business results. These elements comprise a triple bottom line....
Salary Survey – 2003
Regular Employee - Section 16. Salary by RAB Certification
RAB QMS QMS QMS EMS EMS RAB IATCA QMS** internal lead provisional Environmental EMS*** lead provisional IATCA**** senior auditor auditor auditor auditor auditor auditor auditor auditor auditor auditor None United States All respondents $ 67,088 204 $ 60,...
Salary Survey – 2003
Full Survey
6. QUALITY PROGRESS I DECEMBER 2003 I 31 Average salary 1999 Average salary 2000 Average salary 2001 Average salary 2002 Average salary 2003 Average salary Change from previous year Change from previous year Change from previous year Change from previous...
Management System Integration: Can It Be Done?
In October 1996, the International Organization for Standardization, known as ISO, issued the final version of ISO 14001, an international standard for environmental management systems (EMS)....
Corporate Social Responsibility
Corporate scandals such as those involving Enron and WorldCom may finally be awakening corporate America to its social responsibilities. Such scandals are creating concern about business ethics and governance....
Quality's Path to the Boardroom
Combining the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 20021 and elements of ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 quality and environmental management standards may provide a powerful tool for elevating the quality assurance function status in many U.S. companies....
Column: Standards Outlook: Test ISO 9000:2000 Understanding
Your ISO 9001:2000 certificate is only as good as the people helping to manage, review, evaluate and update the quality management system (QMS) behind...
Quality's Six Life Cycle Stages
A tool referred to as “quality life cycle” provides a strategic mechanism to chart and sustain quality while proactively countering shortcomings of its implementation, such as stagnation and limited application, which can ultimately result in failure....
Lean and Six Sigma – Synergy Made in Heaven
The combination of Six Sigma and lean enterprise work can enhance the production experience. Workers have the empowerment and skill to recognize a problem and, if it cannot be resolved, shut down the line to eliminate the root cause. Six Sigma and lean...
ISO 9000 Makes Integrated Systems User Friendly
Organizations need management systems that are based on processes or activities that help personnel understand what is essential to achieving continual improvement on a consistent basis....
Systems Thinking – An Uncommon Answer
Some of the common problems to be found in many business failures include too much focus on short-term gains, too much focus on quarterly profit statements, and a prevalence of long-term losses. One possible solution to these problems is systems...
QOS – A Simple Method for Big or Small
Although there are many quality initiatives in the marketplace, many of them involve a degree of hype. Ford Motor Company’s quality operating system (QOS) is recommended as one offering the most value for the money. A QOS assessment looks at...
