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Costa is the UK’s largest and fastest growing coffee shop brand with over 1300 coffee shops across the UK and more than 600 internationally.  Costa is passionate about being a responsible business. 100% of the coffee they use comes from sustainably grown beans sourced from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms. As a part of their commitment to reducing environmental impact, Costa set a goal to reduce carbon emissions by 25% by 2017 . The adoption the ISO 50001:2011 - Energy Management standard allowed Costa to reduce their carbon emissions by 32 % and increase and expand their operations without building a new site ( an estimated of 150,000 GBP in savings) Costa's story about how NQA certification to ISO 50001   let them to win new business, reduce energy consumption, maintain quality and save money. The Energy Management Good Practices set by Costa: 1. Go beyond obvious and look at all Processes and Procedures to identify opportunities for achieving eff...

A selection of ISO standards on Six Sigma. Here is a list of already published standards:   ISO 13053-1:2011 Quantitative methods in process improvement -- Six Sigma -- Part 1: DMAIC methodology   ISO 13053-2:2011 Quantitative methods in process improvement -- Six Sigma -- Part 2: Tools and techniques and standards under development:   ISO/DIS 17258 Statistical methods -- Six Sigma -- Benchmarking for Six Sigma   ISO/WD 18404 Competencies for key personnel in relation to Six Sigma and Lean implementation Looking for continual professional development training opportunities? The most effective and proven ways to embrace and sustain Lean are finally explained. Register for Make Lean Happen Training Course today ! ( Earn CPD hours! )

New Course ! Making Lean Happen Don’t miss out on your chance to Make Lean Happen! Deploying Lean Enterprise-wide The most effective and proven ways to embrace Lean are finally explained. Champions and sponsors "Build robust Lean program, develop supporting infrastructure for Lean transformation that contributes to the organization's overall goals, know the impact Lean will have on the organization; make Lean happen." Individuals, Black Belts, Managers, Directors "Familiarize yourself with soft and hard elements of Lean transformation; know the impact Lean will have on your work; learn to address short-term and long-term needs carefull...

Smart companies write their high level quality documents in a clear business language and make them publicly available. Here are some examples:   Quality Manual - NASA     Motorola Solutions Quality Manual   A Quality Manual is the top-level document which establishes the quality policies and objectives for the entire organization. It should be clear, jargon-free, user-friendly, and written in a business language. Let’s review two examples: “Design and development inputs shall be defined in accordance with the Form QMS - 123. Reviewers shall be drawn from representatives of the functional areas concerned with the design. Reviews shall meet the requirements listed in the section 7.2.2. Review results and resolutions shall be recorded in documents identified in the Form QMS - 425“.  “We regard customer value perceptions as key business drivers that influence product design and development. Once customer value perceptions are identified, we convert...

Enhance your employee benefits program by making CBG training courses for continual professional development of certified professionals available to your employees with a corporate discount. This savings opportunity will increase spendable income of your employees. It’s like giving a raise but without the expense of an annual salary increase. In order to qualify for corporate rates your company needs: to have at least 5 full time employees;  support and promote continual professional development among your employees;   keep links to CBG training courses and discount information on your company’s intranet;  share information about CBG training courses and discounts through your internal newsletters at least semi-annually.  Contact us for details

Save the time and resources required to design and document an AS9100C Quality Management System. Define and implement your company's regulatory quality assurance practices and procedures easily with our fully AS9100C and ISO9001:2008 compliant Quality Systems Manual template. It is written in Microsoft Word so you can easily edit and customize it to make it your own. This Template is to be used as a template in developing your own AS9100 Quality Manual. Review the text and replace as needed to match your own Quality System. At a minimum, your Company's name and Logo should be included in proper places in the document. Also, ensure that correct procedures and work instruction numbers are referenced. Those lower level documents should be written if your company IS already ISO9001 certified and don't need to be totally changed to suit requirements of AS9100. Check out our fully customizable quality manual templates and procedures: ISO 9001:2008 Quality Systems Manu...

When I started as a new Quality Assurance Manager for a well-respected manufacturing company couple of years ago, the Manufacturing Manager approached me one day and asked me to write a CA (corrective action) to certain employee who made a half a shift worth of scrap (even though both set-up technician and his supervisor were in the area, and “in-process” checks were done and, ironically, recorded). QA or Police Department? I was surprised, to say the least, that Corrective action system was being used to discipline employees (and thus, the CA’s issued to employees stored by HR in employee’s files together with the disciplinary notes- warnings). Also, I was told that my function will be to POLICE the quality and to make sure no bad products leave the plant. In general, in my many years in different quality functions with various industries, the impression I had from other departments about quality folks is one that quality only knows about complaining, rejecting a lot, about issui...

General words are minefields when it comes to professional writing in quality management. Examples of such words are: always,  never,  all,  none,  lack,  almost, alike.  If we used the word "never” and a single occurrence compromised this word, it has also compromised the reader’s trust to the whole message. Words that express opinions should be used very carefully.Examples of such words are comprehensive,  clear,  consistent,  unambiguous.  What is clear to one person may not be clear to someone else. If we decide to use such words, we need to agree on their definitions as a first step.

It is an important stylistic rule of non-technical writing to avoid repetitions in consecutive sentences. For example, if we talk about “Maria’s accomplishments” in one sentence, it is better to use “her achievements” in the second one. In technical correspondence it can lead to confusion because “accomplishments” and “achievements” may have some differences in meaning. Here is a real example from quality audit report: “Process XYZ Suggestions: the Process XYZ was very good, but the following issues were discussed afterwards”. In this example a quality auditor used words “issue” and “suggestions” interchangeably. However, from the users’ perspectives an issue must be addressed while a suggestion can be considered. To add more confusion, the overall mark was “very good”.

A quote often attributed to Mark Twain states, “Sorry about the long letter, I didn't have time to write a short one”. We value the reader’s time and try to be as concise as possible. We try to use descriptive words instead of descriptive paragraphs. E x amples: More practical tips in our best selling training course Audit Interview: Learn Journalists' Secrets . 10% off Registration Fees in July 2013.

It is said that “a goal well set is half way achieved”. There is no better way to set up a goal than to describe it in details. It can be a picture of what we want or conversely, what we don’t want to achieve as an outcome. Using an example from risk management practices, it is not as important to describe what can go wrong, but what our Plan B is. In other words, keep focus on solutions but not on problems and on expectations but not on precautions.  E x amples:

Faults and obstacles are not necessarily negative: constraints spur creativity, problems lead to new solutions, and faults are key components of learning and making progress. Amazingly enough, the previous years of recessions are known as years when top numbers of top companies were created, such as FedEx, Microsoft, Apple, Genentech, Oracle or the SAS Institute. By their nature, quality departments are accumulators of information about faults, defects, and problems. This information becomes highly valued to improve, innovate and be ahead of competition, but is effective only when the language of the quality professional is focused of the bright side of things. E x amples: 

Words have incredible power. Words can hurt and words can help. They can build trust, inspire, and promote a sense of shared goals. Words can steer attention to the areas of commonality or vice versa, keep focus on elements that divide. Words can confuse or they can clarify. A single word can trigger a very powerful emotion and turn the conversation or even an entire business relationship in a different direction. Words should be carefully selected and only used deliberately. This month on our blog we will concentrate on the wording, substance and style of messages communicated by quality professionals. It can serve as a practical guide to help quality auditors, managers, engineers, and other professionals clarify their written messages and inspire their readers to constructive actions. Materials presented here are based on many years of practical experience and analysis of what worked and what didn’t, in written communication related to auditing, consulting, and training in the ...

Accounting for more than 95% of the world’s businesses, small and medium size companies play an important role in the modern day economy. To satisfy the needs of small and medium businesses, ISO published a guide ‘ ISO 9001 for Small Businesses What to do ’. The document follows the structure of the Standard and is focused on practical tips and advice form the experts. You can preview the publication here . There are many ways how small businesses can benefit from using a quality management system from increased efficiency of operations to the opening up of export markets and increase of customers confidence. Looking to develop the Quality Management System beyond the ISO 9001:2008? Learn about  ISO 9004:2009, Managing for the sustained success of an organization – A quality management approach in our updated training course Fundamentals of Business Sustainability . Check out our fully customizable quality manual templates and procedures: ISO 9001:2008 Quality Syste...

Which has me thinking about the process of moving. (Trust me: Thinking about the process of moving is infinitely more fun than the actual work of attacking and packing up that junked out storage closet.) So go with me here....    In a fundamental way, the act of selling your house, packing your stuff, finding a new place to live, moving your stuff, and unpacking your stuff so you can settle in and get back to your life again, well, it’s fundamentally just another project. It has mission and goals tied to overall strategy, and it has phases and methods and detailed tasks that must happen in a specific order. And just like any other project you might work on in your professional life, the process of pulling up sticks and moving your household will run more smoothly if you obey and organize around the principles of effective project management. Every project has specific phases. These are initiation, planning, implementing, controlling, and closing. If the project is long and...

Resist the urge to produce something, anything before the team understands the goals of the project. At the beginning of every project, there is pressure to show something, anything to prove there is movement. The pressure can be subtly cultural or overt and obnoxious, as in “So what has your team actually been doing??!!” The best project managers push back against creating any work product until the goals and objectives of the project are well understood. I’m not suggesting waiting months to show progress, but taking an extra few days or weeks at the very beginning to set a proper direction is always time well spent. Project managers have a responsibility to their teams to shelter them and to seek the answers required to move forward. About the author Karen Creditor teaches Quality in Project Management: Navigating ISO 21500 Training Course @ Centauri Business Group Inc. More project management tips in the free download . Let us know what you think:   • W...

Every organization has a culture which is influenced by its leaders and adapted by its employees.  An organization that focuses on Quality in its culture will benefit in many ways. It will improve efficiency and thus will be able to meet their customer needs more effectively. The solidly defined processes will facilitate decision making based on evidence. Transparency and honesty will increase staff morale. Quality culture of an organization can be defined as a commitment to quality environment, products and processes. Quality culture can and has to be constantly improved. Regardless of level in the organization, you can play a part in its culture. 1.    Lead by example; promote positive values through consistent decision. 2.    Establish and maintain a positive quality culture through regular training and educational sessions. 3.    Cultivate in the personnel a sense of pride of belonging to the Company. This will activate the eff...

Litecontrol is a Massachusetts based company that provides commercial and educational lighting products. In over 75 years the Company evolved from the early innovations in wall/slot lighting, to today's advanced LED fixtures. As the biggest environmental impact of lighting is the energy used during operation, Litecontrol designs their fixtures with the latest optical and thermal techniques to achieve 85-95% efficiency ratings that allow saving energy. LiteCycle wiring, developed exclusively for Litecontrol , eliminates the PVC-based wiring material used by other manufacturers.  A broad view of what constitutes a quality product and a quality lighting manufacturer brought Litecontrol to earn the lighting industry's first Cradle to Cradle Silver Certification for all products manufactured in Plympton, MA factories in 2008. Cradle to Cradle is the leading "green" certification program using a multi-criteria approach to address product design and ma...

Being concise matters.  Thirty-second commercials sell. Pictures overpower words. Catchy slogans stay in the mind of consumers. Many would agree that instructions, quality procedures and company policies, should also influence, empower, and drive exceptional results. Unfortunately, in many cases these documents remain either unused or underused.  To illustrate this I’ll give an example taken from my ISO 9001 external audits conducted a few years ago when paperless office was still a novelty. It was quite usual that my interviewee would start our discussion by reaching for a thick dusty folder that was titled “ISO 9001 Documentation”. The folder contained a set of mandatory quality management procedures as well as lengthy and detailed process descriptions and work instructions relevant to the audited areas. We both sneezed as dust puffed up into the air and I made a note that the folder had not been touched since my previous visit to that company. In other words, the ...

Looking to implement a quality management system in your organization? Want to make sure your products and services meet customers' needs? The best-selling ISO 9001:2008 is now available in the Online Collection with 18 other standards of the ISO 9000 Family . For a flat fee of CHF 375,00 per year you will gain access to the Collection of Standards and always have the most up to date content. Pros: Cons: Effective navigation between the Standards that cross-reference each other; Regular updates with the most recent changes, amendments, and withdrawals; Easy access from any PC, tablet or a smart phone; Free information (parts of the standards including introductions, terms and definitions) No offline access No printing and sharing After the subscription expires, the full standards will no longer be available in your library 

Starbucks Coffee Company started in Seattle, WA, in 1971. Today it has over 17000 stores in over 30 countries, and growing. Starbucks is committed to buying and serving high-quality coffee that is responsibly grown and ethically traded. In 2001 Starbucks in conjunction with Conservation International developed socially responsible coffee buying guidelines called C.A.F.E. Practices (Coffee and Farmer Equity Practices) that contained 28 specific indicators five focus areas: product quality, economic accountability (transparency), social responsibility, environmental leadership in coffee growing and environmental leadership in coffee processing. As a result, 93 %  of coffee was ' ethically sourced ' in 2012. Watch the video and find out how Starbucks builds sustainable relationship with it's suppliers by making investments that benefit coffee producers, their families and communities, and the natural environment. More case studies in our Social Responsi...

Have you ever had a problem communicating with someone? Have you tried to get your point across and just not been able to make the other person understand what you mean? While communication disconnects can sometimes create amusing situations, these situations shouldn’t adversely effect how work is perceived. Most authorities agree that good communication skills enhance productivity and contribute to a positive workplace culture. Ability to communicate ideas, vision, goals, and objectives can improve professional credibility and increase influence.   Communication for Quality Professionals addresses three particular communication areas: One                Achieving clarity in your writing Two                Achieving clarity in your presentations and Three          ...