Here are some other sites that we have found in our continuing search for knowledge. We hope you will find these useful in your pursuit of a better QMS.
All that we ask in return is that if you discover information that you feel would benefit others, then please send us a copy/link, so that we can continually update these links for everyone. New items are highlighted.
NEW! - Inspection Easy Software
http://www.inspectioneasy.com/ - A very effective paperless inspection system that I would recommend to anyone who has to inspect product to prints.
ISO Home Page
ISO 9001 Guidance Documents and more...
http://www.bsi.org.uk/iso-tc176-sc2 - A library of guidance documents on The Process Approach to Management, QMS Documentation, control of Outsourced Processes, etc. Please visit the "ISO 9001 Auditing Practices Group" link for some great guidance documents / training material for auditors.
The Elsmar Cove - http://elsmar.com This is a great web site for quality professionals with a very large number of discussion forums that are well hosted by quality pros. If you have a question or some free time to explore your profession this is a must visit web site.
NEW! - Eyesore 9000 - http://www.oxebridge.com/Eyesore9000.pdf - This parody of ISO 9001 is not only hilarious but also accurately identifies many of the flaws with the consultants and auditors who have butchered the implementation of ISO 9001 in so many organizations. I still believe that there is nothing wrong with the ISO 9001 Standard but there are many things wrong with the way it has been interpreted by overzealous amateurs over the years. - added 6/7/07
Quality Quest - http://mikemick.com Mike has some great insights and articles on the value of ISO 9001, Six Sigma and Lean Manufacturing as well as the problems that we are now encountering with non-value added Quality Management Systems. If you have some free time to explore your profession this is a must visit web site. - added 1/16/07
MS Access template for issue tracking - http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/
Most organizations provide Microsoft Office to their employees. How effectively do we really use this powerful set of tools? Here is a link to a free database template for tracking problems which might come in handy for your corrective action system.
Dr. Edward Deming's Management Principles - Anyone who would like to know more about the quality profession should start with some information from the father of modern quality.
Deming's 14 Points for Management
The ASQ Home Page
www.asq.org - The American Society for Quality
The ANAB Home Page
http://www.aiag.org/ - Formerly the RAB, the ANSI-ASQ National Accreditation Board is the U.S. accreditation body for management systems. ANAB accredits certification bodies (CBs) for ISO 9001 quality management systems (QMS) and ISO 14001 environmental management systems (EMS), as well as a number of industry-specific requirements.
The RABQSA Home Page
http://www.rabqsa.com/- Formerly the RAB, this body now handles management system auditor certifications in the United States.
AIAG Home Page
http://www.aiag.org/ - The Automotive Industry Action Group which primarily functions as the US auto industry's communication vehicle to suppliers.
To order a great FMEA instruction manual / workbook go to www.aiag.org and look under "products/training" then "quality" then "core tools" then "FMEA-3". If you are not experienced in the automotive industry and are serious about expanding your knowledge as a Quality Professional and benchmarking best practices then you should also consider ordering the manuals for some of the other automotive industry core tools. Measurement System Analysis (MSA), Production Part Approval Process (PPAP), Advanced Product Quality Planning (APQP), and SPC.
IAOB / IATF Home Page
http://www.iaob.org/ - The International Automotive Oversight Bureau which primarily functions as the International auto industry's communication vehicle to suppliers. Where to find links to many TS 16949 Customer Specific Requirements (CSRs).
Layered Process Audits
NEW - http://www.layeredprocessaudits.com/- A great resource to help better understand LPAs and some great software tools for managing them.
NEW - http://www.lpaadmin.com/ - A great resource to help better understand LPAs and some great software tools for managing them.
The Lean Enterprise Institute
http://www.lean.org/- This is considered the premier site for lean manufacturing by many.
Casey Bralla's web site
http://www.bralla.com/ - Casey was kind enough to create a web site with lots of great information and links on Lean Manufacturing. Best of all, he's not trying to sell you anything!
Disciplined Problem Solving information
ISixSigma Problem Solving Library
http://www.isixsigma.com/tt/ - A library of problem solving / QMS tools and templates.
ISixSigma SIPOC Templates http://www.isixsigma.com/library/content/c010429d.asp
Some guidance and templates for using the SIPOC methodology for defining QMS processes.
ISixSigma Cause and Effect / Fishbone / Ishikawa Diagram Templates http://www.isixsigma.com/library/content/t000827.asp
Some guidance and templates for using this problem solving tool.
John Grout's Mistake Proofing Center
http://www.mistakeproofing.com - A great site to learn about problem solving and mistake proofing concepts.
Theory of Constraints
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_constraints - A nice description of these concepts with some great links to more relevant information.
Zoomerang
www.zoomerang.com - A well run and easy to use site for creating, administering, and analyzing any type of survey
Survey Monkey
www.surveymonkey.com - Another site for online surveys...
Any company that is using ISO 9001:2000 as a model for their QMS should be considering how to better leverage their human resources and training systems as part of the ongoing continual improvement of the QMS. HR personnel play a significant role in the compliance and effectiveness of their QMS. These are some tools to add to your toolbox...
Measuring Intellectual Capital
http://www.intellectualcapital.nl/
http://www.skyrme.com/insights/24kmeas.htm
Training Effectiveness
NEW - http://coe.sdsu.edu/eet/ - The Encyclopedia of Educational Technology. Lots of great stuff here!
http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/99-142.html#effect - a EH&S based interpretation of the factors that make training effective.
http://www.humanlinks.com/orgsn/training_effectiveness.htm - a questionnaire to assess the training systems of your company. This is really worth checking out.
http://www.cuttsgroup.com/articles/training-effectiveness.htm - more on the topic
Best Practices
www3.best-in-class.com - A wealth of benchmarking reports on many key business processes. Not free but there seems to be some good stuff here.
Training Effectiveness Survey - a simple tool to obtain employee feedback on training effectiveness is available on this web site under Free Stuff!
NCSL Home Page
http://www.ncsli.org/index.cfm - Need some guidance on how to establish proper QMS controls in your internal Calibration or Testing Lab? The NCSL Recommended Practices are recognized standards for good laboratory practices necessary to comply TS 16949 and ISO 17025 requirements.
A2LA Home Page
http://www.a2la.org/ - More information on lab quality management systems and accreditation to ISO 17025.
Iso 9001:2000, clause 7.2.3 states, "The organization shall determine and implement effective arrangements for communicating with customers in relation to
Think about how you would demonstrate / provide evidence of the effectiveness of your customer oriented processes / processes that involve customer communication? Is there possibly any data that could be collected, analyzed and measured that could objectively show the performance of these processes and be further used to improve these processes? Read on...
Get Human.com
ISO 9001, clause 7.2.3 requires that an organization must have effective processes for communicating with customers. Have you ever been frustrated as a consumer trying to get a human on the line? This web site has a standard for assessing company phone communication systems, grades 500+ companies, and gives you tricks to help get a human faster.
Measuring Sales performance
http://www.crmguru.com/features/2002b/0703bt.html
A very nice article discussing the challenges of measuring the performance of sales processes.
http://www.destinationcrm.com/articles/default.asp?ArticleID=1410
A basic overview of the concepts, big on CRM.
I found these in 15 minutes by doing a google search on "measuring sales processes". Think what you could learn if you spent an hour...
Best Practices
www3.best-in-class.com - A wealth of benchmarking reports on many key business processes. Not free but there seems to be some good stuff here.
Biz Think
http://www.biz-think.blogspot.com/ - A nice blog on recent and relevant business news that you should find enlightening and encouraging.
www.despair.com a site that must be visited for anyone entrenched in corporate America. Source of the "Demotivators" parody of classic motivational posters.
For more information on these tools and many others that we offer please contact us.