#QualityMatters

Rachel Bays and the team at Illuminate Video are working hard to build a new more modern world of Safety Videos. We have all been forced to sit through hour after hour of horribly mind numbing, unrealistic, cheesy safety videos. Join us as we explore more about the world of Safety Videos and Safety Training in the new more modern and digital age! https://illuminatevideo.com/ SMALL BUSINESS, BIG IDEASIlluminate is a 100% women-owned small business based in Houston, Texas. Since 2015, we’ve...

Mark Coldiron - Corporate Quality Director. Mark shares his stories of working up the ladder, literally and figurately to achieve success in Quality Management.https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-c-06482922/ Mark has thirty years experience in the design, erection and installation of piping and piping systems in paper mills, refineries and power plants. This includes experience from craft level through Project Manager, as well as QA/QC and QA/QC Management to the Corporate level. He has also...

Explaining a Quality Management System-what it is, what it does, how it changes-seems to be a daunting task. In this episode, we use something fun to explain a lot of the terms that go along with a QMS. Every year for Christmas, our family does what we call Jingle Bags. We fill a bag with treats and goodies and drive a planned route. One of the kids gets out, sneaks to the door, leaves the bag, knocks loudly and runs back to the car. Basically, we have a fun excuse to play ding dong ditch....

Injection molding is just what it sounds, using a mold, injecting it with melted material and hardening that material to create the desired product. It’s not as simple as it sounds, though. Everything that goes into injection molding must be a quality product to produce tight tolerances. In this episode, Adam describes to what tolerances he is creating parts as a supplier to OEM’s (Original Equipment Manufacturers). The molds sometimes must be prepped with a coating in order to preserve the...

During difficult financial times, either from the economy at large or individually within a single organization, Quality Management System “QMS” programs are often some of the first to be cut in cost savings efforts, and are impacted by cost reductions elsewhere in the organization. The growing digital work environment is providing many opportunities for new methods of managing and maintaining a QMS. The QMS provides the foundation for often required (either by customer or legally enforced)...

Quality 4.0, "BOK" Body of Knowledge, jargon and Quality Management lingo... So many terms, so difficult to communicate why Quality Matters. Its so important to understand we are marketing Quality Management principles to our team, our customers and our leaders. If it is not understood its not going to be implemented. Small Businesses are often excluded from the conversations, and lets face it most business in America are small business. Lets make Quality "Small Biz Friendly". Quality...

Originally the "Five Keys to a Successful Implementation" centered on implementing a software solution. But as we continued to dig deep into this idea, it soon became evident that these Keys apply to any aspect of your business be is software, management and/or personnel change, new process, new product lines or a new management system, you name it! We hope you enjoy this next episode on the Quality Matters Methodology. Ensure your support teams are part of the processCommunicate Communicate...

Quality is Quality because the fundamental principles are the same across any organization, you simply cannot escape them. Be sure to download the ISO Publication linked below Quality Management Principles. This week we cover Customer focus, Leadership & Engagement of People. The seven quality management principles are:QMP 1 – Customer focusQMP 2 – LeadershipQMP 3 – Engagement of peopleQMP 4 – Process approachQMP 5 – ImprovementQMP 6 – Evidence-based decision makingQMP 7 – Relationship...

Quality is Quality because the fundamental principles are the same across any organization, you simply cannot escape them. Be sure to download the ISO Publication linked below Quality Management Principles. Engagement of People and of course the Process Approach! The seven quality management principles are:QMP 1 – Customer focusQMP 2 – LeadershipQMP 3 – Engagement of peopleQMP 4 – Process approachQMP 5 – ImprovementQMP 6 – Evidence-based decision makingQMP 7 – Relationship management Join us...

Quality is Quality because the fundamental principles are the same across any organization, you simply cannot escape them. Be sure to download the ISO Publication linked below Quality Management Principles. This week we cover Customer focus, Leadership & Engagement of People. The seven quality management principles are:QMP 1 – Customer focusQMP 2 – LeadershipQMP 3 – Engagement of peopleQMP 4 – Process approachQMP 5 – ImprovementQMP 6 – Evidence-based decision makingQMP 7 – Relationship...

The firs step for us in understanding is to define the key words and topics. This might sound like such a glamorous method, but it provides valuable insight. For instance, the word Quality can often mean a characteristic of a product or process or even person. Where on the other hand, Quality can mean a standard of excellence. ISO 9000:2015 defines Quality as : These are basics of a good culture. Ultimatly we see that Culture = Quality. Stay tuned as we continue to dive further into the...

"The Quality Matters Methodology" - a success model for the development, implementation and maintenance of quality management systems. Simple Lessons for you, your team and your process. Follow us on this journey as we relay The Quality Matters Methodology to you. We start by learning from the lessons of others before you. From Simon Sinek's Start with Why an the idea of the Golden Circle to Stephen Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Jocko Willink's Extreme Ownership and lessons...

This is a fun episode where we go through the certifying process with a certifying company. Quality Management Company, LLC is a company the conducts steel fabricator and erector quality management system audits for AISC (American Institute of Steel Construction). This case study was authored by Roberta Marstellar and Sheila Alegria, although we are not sure which one did the journaling. Quality Management Company, LLC realized that they were not doing themselves the very thing they were...

The world of quality management, processes, and improvements often seems overwhelming. It is a fact that children adapt to new ideas better than grown-ups. It is best to teach children a second language when they are very young because they are more likely to catch on quicker. So, why not start introducing teens to quality? Learning Lean Six Sigma Sunil Kaushik Sunil Kaushik is a Six Sigma trainer and wanted to introduce the concepts to students aged 10-23. In the beginning, he had...

We’ve have said over and over that quality is not just for manufacturing or oil and gas. ISO 9001, quality management and policies and procedures can benefit any industry. This is a case study of a pharmacy that decided to look for opportunities for improvement. The article was written in 2005 and at that time staffing rates were down, for techs and pharmacists, prescriptions were up, and the increase in pharmacists projection wasn’t going to fill the need. This still seems true today as...

Police departments are under fire right now and are looking for ways to show credibility. We at Texas Quality Assurance and #QualityMatters back the blue and always support continual improvement. We have a number of times how ISO 9001 certification can help any sector or industry. The Phoenix Police Department Records and Identification Bureau decided to do just that many years ago. They started with process mapping, a favorite of Kyle’s, and used those maps to identify over 100...

From sales, service, accounting and of course the production floor Quality Matters. Regardless if you implementing lean or continuous improvement in the office or shop floor management buy in is key, but don't neglect the folks doing the work day to day. Continuous improvement is more than the tools and processes but an overall change management journey. "If it is going to be successful, it has got to be a part of the everyday way people do their work" Learn more about our guest today, Matt...

Racine Unified School District found themselves in a similar situation as other school systems and business, they were facing huge budget cuts and rising costs in education. The district wanted to provide high quality education to their population, just under half of which were economically disadvantaged. In a case study found at the ASQ website and authored by Dr. Stephen Miller, we learned that this school district turned to a quality management system to help them improve student...

The Kepner Tregoe Decision model is a useful tool to find the best possible choice, not a perfect solution. Your first step in this model is to identify the situation, define concerns and choose a direction. The next step is determining the problem and it’s root cause. I personally feel like root cause is often left out of the equation. Next you list alternatives and perform an analysis on each. The last step is to identify possible problems with the alternatives. Once you have created...

COVID-19 is still a very hot topic in the United States. Of course, we like to share with you how quality matters in all aspects of your life. Whatever you feel about COVID, masks, lock-downs, back to school, and the government, COVID affects you. We came across a Deming Institute blogpost about a man in India that used control charts to put into perspective the information that residents were getting daily. India is one-third the size of the United States, but about 4 times the people. As...