A company whose main activity is the design, manufacture and distribution of all kinds of furniture and upholstered complementary elements, needs to radically improve its processes and certify its Quality Management System according to ISO 9001: 2000.
The starting situation
This company that designs, manufactures and distributes all types of furniture and upholstered complementary elements, after a few years in which competitiveness has increased significantly in the national market, which has traditionally been its most important market, poses the following challenges:
- To improve your situation in the national market, you must improve the competitiveness of your processes so as to reduce costs and improve your flexibility to achieve better customer service. Improve your presence in international markets for which, in addition to more competitive processes - for image reasons it needed to have a certification of its quality management system according to the international standard ISO 9001: 2000 to enter markets that require it.
Therefore, the company had to, if it wanted to maintain the potential possibilities of going to export markets, to undertake a process reengineering project and to have a Quality Management System based on the ISO 9001: 2000 standard.
For this, the company contacted Improven Consultores for the development of the global project in both aspects, both in processes and in the quality area so that they were developed in parallel and without interfering in the day-to-day operations of the company.
The proposed solution
The Improven Consultores team presented a project that covered both aspects -both process reengineering and ISO 9000 quality management system- perfectly suited to the client's needs and taking into account their current processes, culture and technologies.
In terms of deadlines, a team of four consultants from Improven Consultores developed an initial 9-month key process reengineering project.
After those first 9 months of key process reengineering, another project was started which in turn consisted of two parallel projects, one to continue with the reengineering of non-key processes and the other with the implementation and certification of the Quality System according to ISO 9001: 2000 for a further 9 months, making a total of 18 months project.
Thanks to the use of the Improven Consultores Project Management and Planning methodology, all the necessary activities were developed in an adequate, progressive and controlled manner, which allowed the organization to combine, not without effort, the correct achievement of this challenge with your daily activities.
The methodology
Regarding the methodology, the tasks carried out were the following:
1. Diagnosis of the current situation.
1.1 Analysis of the company's process map as well as the identification of key processes.
1.2 Obtaining the basic information (consultation of documents and records).
1.3 Evaluation and planning of activities.
2. Process reengineering. Establishment of continuous improvement processes and definition of indicators. For this, the methodology illustrated in the following figure was used:
3. Development and implementation of the Quality Management System.
3.1 Definition of processes, quality policy, objectives and indicators.
3.2 Creation of a documentary base based on Procedures, Instructions,…
3.3 Preparation of the Quality Manual.
3.4 Technical assistance in the implementation of the new requirements of the ISO 9001: 2000 standard (focus on processes, customer satisfaction,…)
4. Audits of the Quality Management System.
4.1 Carrying out an internal audit of the Quality System.
4.2 Collaboration in the selection of the appropriate Certification Entity.
4.3 Technical support in the certification audit.
4.4 Collaboration in the review and taking actions on the result of the certification audit (corrective action plan).
5. Monitoring and control of process reengineering (and continuous improvement) and of the Quality Management System.
Results
Once the reengineering was carried out with important results and the certificate was successfully obtained according to the ISO 9001: 2000 standard, the company achieved:
- Get a better flow of information and materials. Obtain significant increases in productivity. Decrease in product or service process times. Decrease in the costs of activities and products. Decrease in the levels of stocks of both final and intermediate products. Increase in staff morale and satisfaction, improving the work environment Greater production flexibility, being able to adapt to commercial demands Incorporate customer satisfaction management, the processes and the manufactured product, involving the suppliers.Thanks to the application of the Process Approach, it has been achieved that the responsibilities and authorities and the activities to be performed are clearly defined. Very appreciable improvement in the marketing of the company. Rationalization of the System and reduction of documentation.
