Quality Improvement in the Concrete Blocks' Production Thesis

Quality Improvement in the Concrete Blocks' Production - Thesis Example Corrective Action and Preventive Action 22 2.5. Implementing ISO9001:2008 22 2.5.1. The Quality Statement 22 2.5.2. Document Control 25 2.5.3. Quality Processes 27 2.5.4. Quality Assessment or Baseline 28 2.5.5. Internal Audit 29 2.5.5.1. Root Cause Analysis 30 2.5.5.2. Corrective and Preventive Measures 31 2.5.5.3. Internal Audit 32 2.5.6. External Audit 34 2.5.7. Goal Setting 35 3. Methodology 36 4. Bibliography 54 Quality Improvement in the Concrete Blocks’ Production 1. Introduction ISO 9001:2008 is a set of criteria that can be applied to all organizations regardless of type, size and product or service provided e[Hoy-09). No matter the industry a properly implemented ISO 9001:2008 forces the organization to exceed itself by letting each department involved in production of its product to do a better job after each internal audit [Phil-09]. The primary question that will be answered in this paper shall be whether or not the implementation of the ISO 9001:2008 in the proc esses involved in the manufacture of concrete blocks will improve the quality of each block manufactured by the organization. The secondary question that will be answered by this dissertation shall be: what are the steps involved in the implementation of the ISO 9001:2008? The third question that needs to be answered will be: what are the organizational processes that will be affected by the implementation of the ISO 9001:2008? Another quern that will be posited shall be: how can the quality be improved or maintained when the ISO 9001:2008 is fully operational or implemented already. Using the collective experiences of authors and industry practitioners of ISO 9001:2008 an implementation framework will be developed for an organization that manufactures concrete block to ensure if not guarantee its quality (Cia - 1t). The primary impetus for the organization in ensuring the quality of the concrete blocks they manufacture is to ensure the safety of the people that will be using th em (Cia -101). Concrete blocks are used as walls or support structure of buildings. An improperly produced concrete block could result to injury and even death (Kal). Not only it is imperative to ensure the safety of the concrete blocks but also another immediate concern would be to ensure that the whole production process is efficient and can offer a maximum yield.  The Plan Do Check Act is in the heart of the Toyota way of doing things (Sobek II and Smalley). Toyota has been studied and have been written about several times that it is negligent not to include the lessoned that we can learn in the way they used the Plan Do Check Act concept in their management style. Toyota being the most successful implementation of the concept has not stopped in developing new ways of improving itself. In the true essence of its adherence of continual improvement in the Plan Do Check Act framework the â€Å"Toyota Way† was developed (Lik - 04). The ISO 9001:2008 and its predecessor Qualit y Management Systems have strictly used the same concept in the operation and implementation of the ISO framework. All the authors through their work have been one in saying that the first step towards achieving success in the implementation of a Quality Management System is the organization’s determination and dedication in settling the current state of its manufacturing processes. To determine the current state of the manufacturing process to produce quality products the following has to be established first. What constitute quality in the creation of quality