Do not rush to close the page when you see dull “corrective actions” paired with the very sad letters “QMS”. Yes, we agree, only labor protection can argue about the degree of tediousness in the eyes of company employees with a quality management system . Meanwhile, QMS is the most effective and time-tested system with a vibrant history and ingenious implementation tools. One of the key tools of the system is the corrective action.
Definitions and clarifications
Corrective action is the action taken to eliminate the causes of non-compliance. In this case, the key word is “reasons”. In other words, everything needs to be fixed so that in the future such inconsistencies never arise again.
Non-compliance is a departure from established requirements. Note that in the QMS there is no place for such words as “mistake”, and this is very important. The expression "error" implies the presence of the culprit, and, therefore, the corresponding punishment.
There is nothing like this in the QMS and never will be. To understand and accept is half the success in the implementation of the QMS.
First, let's put everything in its place.
Procedural three
Corrective actions in the QMS are one of the six mandatory procedures described in the legendary ISO 9000 standard. This procedure is closely related to the other two, this is how this “three” looks like:
- Non-conforming product management procedure.
- Procedure "Corrective Actions".
- Procedure “Preventive actions”.
If it is simpler, then any inconsistencies are first determined, and then measures to eliminate their causes are planned and implemented.
The key problem: where are we going to look for “something”?
In order to correct something, you first need to find and fix this “something”. Defects in manufactured products, discipline violations, rudeness in dealing with a key client, distortion of financial statements, an increase in the number of injuries at work are a great many examples of discrepancies, they can be very diverse in terms of damage to the company and subject. But all this looks beautiful on paper. In fact, it is very difficult to collect objective production facts of a negative property. Usually this is done by a representative of the quality manual, who has no idea about the nuances of production and other internal secrets.
The collection of real facts for the planning and implementation of corrective actions should be carried out constantly and in several sources: in the internal audit, reports from employees, customer complaints.
“We will not knock on ourselves”
Here it is, the main obstacle to the implementation of a classy quality system, including the effective management of corrective actions. You can conduct seminars and write motivating letters to employees about how important it is to fill out a report form on any non-compliance in time, so that the company immediately rushes to plan and carry out corrective actions to eliminate it. They will listen with interest, nod their heads and even thank you for your contribution to the common cause.
But then you run the risk of getting, at best, a report on the classic discrepancy from the broad masses of workers: it is all about low wages, this is the main discrepancy. Raise it, and everything will be fine right away. The most interesting thing is that most people write such a report from the heart with a sincere belief in success.
What to do and how to live on? Teach, explain, help fill out the form, arrange with the first leader to write the report first. Not by washing, so by riding: you need to think and continue to bend your line. Be as clear and transparent as possible.
The difference between corrective and warning
Even QMS consultants sometimes have difficulty discussing corrective and preventive actions and explaining the difference between them. Meanwhile, it is quite simple, the difference is clear and quite tangible. Judge for yourself:
- A simple adjustment is the correction of an inconsistency in place. Example: a pipe breakthrough that needs to be plugged immediately. This will be an adjustment.
- Corrective action is the elimination of the causes of non-compliance. Why the pipe broke and what needs to be done so that this never happens.
- Preventive action - an action to prevent non-compliance or development when introducing a new service or product. A good and very common example is the conduct of preventive actions in all branches of the company if a discrepancy is found in one of them.
It all started with British bombs that didn't explode
There are a great many examples of corrective actions, including historical ones. The beginning was the British history of the bombs of the Second World War, which marked the beginning of the process approach and all ISO standards in production.
In some British military factories, bombs often began to explode before they were dispatched (mismatch). But in other factories, on the contrary, the bombs did not explode - another discrepancy. The decision (corrective action) was found by the Ministry of Defense. It sent its controllers to each plant. Now each manufacturer was required to prescribe the sequence of all operations, and the controller checked whether the workers followed them. Bombs now exploded in the right place at the right time. Simply? Yes. And brilliant.
Toyota and Japanese Total Quality Control
The QMS in the Toyota company has long become the standard of the Japanese model of quality and the subject of universal study and discussion. Toyota is the main "base" of Edwards Deming, the author of the Japanese economic miracle with its famous principles of work applied at Toyota factories around the world.
Corrective actions are concentrated not on the personality of the employee, but on his behavior. Not disciplinary measures, but human development and problem solving are the main values ​​of Toyota in this block of issues. The Japanese life-long hiring system implies the highest degree of employee responsibility. And for this you need to work with people patiently and carefully.
Take, for example, the lateness of employees who are unacceptable to a Japanese corporate device. But if you think that such unacceptability is an innate quality of people on Toyota, then you are mistaken. For violators of labor discipline, a clear five-step corrective action plan is signed. Dismissal is the very last fifth step, to which it almost never comes.
Toyota Recipe: Five Steps for Corporate Disciples
- The first step is a simple reminder from the leader, it is better to buy an alarm clock in the form of a joke or advice. This action is not corrective.
- If delays continue four or more times a year, the first corrective action is taken in the form of a written reminder. The employee must write what he is going to do to rectify the situation.
- If the same employee is late at least twice over the next year, a disciplinary meeting will be convened with the participation of the highest authorities. The purpose of this corrective action is to help the employee find the solution as much as possible and, attentively, make sure that the unfortunate person was aware of what the company expects of him. The analysis of the corrective actions of the previous stage. At this meeting, there is always a representative of the personnel department, who acts as the lawyer for the offender.
- If the lateness is repeated twice during the next year, the employee is given ... time off to make a final decision and write a letter to the commission. If the commission decides to leave the employee at Toyota, it pays him this day off.
- Now the employee has four years of “suspended sentence”. If during these years at least one delay occurs, the commission recommends the dismissal of the employee.
It should be noted that such dismissals at Toyota are extremely rare cases. Usually, everything is decided at the previous stages of corrective actions.
You can fire. Just be careful
The principles of Toyota can be applied with us. If you think about it, then the analysis of inconsistencies and the search for corrective corrective action are approximately the same scheme for finding causes.
Non-compliance can occur due to the fact that there is no regulatory document, and employees simply do not know how to carry out the actions. Corrective action - creating an instruction or memorandum on the order of the operation.
Another reason for the non-compliance may be a lack of training or instruction. There are rules and procedures, just no one brought them to the attention of the employee.
And now the third option: there is a procedure, and training was carried out, and reminded once again. Yes, that's just an employee is negligent and does not want to work. It is here that he needs to be fired, it will become a tough corrective action. What this decision fits into the QMS and the principles of Toyota are no longer necessary to prove. And in order not to repeat the mistakes when choosing and hiring a new employee for a vacant place, a description of the requirements for a vacancy in the recruiting department should be written taking into account the case with dismissal.
Nizhny Novgorod system of "diamonds": zero defects
At first, the percentage of defects was 65.9%. A famous example of successful Russian implementation of the principles of the QMS. “Diamonds” is the name of a unique authoring system that was invented and implemented at the small tool factory “Tool-Rand” in the town of Pavlovo in the Nizhny Novgorod Region.
The plant produces pneumatic tools that are purchased in Europe and the United States without prior verification. Tool-Rand is the only Russian company that has undergone an engineering audit of Mercedes-Benz. Naturally, the team went to such a level for a long time and hard.
From the very beginning, it was clear that any defect can be fought only with honest and comprehensive information about how this happened. Only in this case, it was possible to accurately determine inconsistencies and corrective actions to eliminate the cause of the defect. In other words, we needed sincere confessions from the workers, who were in no hurry to do so. The fear of losing a bonus or receiving punishment was persistent and pervasive.
Then a system with "diamonds" was invented and implemented, in the role of which were ... defective parts. The provision of information about marriage was a positive development, no one was punished for this. On the contrary, any discrepancy was discussed in the team in order to find together the most optimal and correct corrective action. For "diamonds" set up special tables, like in a museum. This is how the psychology of Nizhny Novgorod workers changed, and Tool-Rand began to rise to the heights of total quality management.
Conclusion
Patience, freedom from stereotypes, good knowledge of the history of standards and excellent communication skills are a set of achievable qualities for implementing the most ambitious plans to move the company forward.
There are a lot of new management models in business literature and the Web: there are with exotic names, there are with seemingly unusual approaches. Only most of them resemble new candy wrappers with a classic filling.
The QMS with its system of corrective actions has not let anyone down yet. Simple and ingenious - these are the two most suitable words for its definition.