quality

Quality Management, Process Improvement, and Lean Services

Studies show organizations can improve customer retention rates by 50% or more through improved work processes and implementing quality standards.

From product manufacturers to service providers, implementing standards and quality management processes can dramatically impact the way you do business and your bottom line. MRA is your resource for insightful needs assessment, practical recommendations, or an extra hand.

  • Scope of Services

    Scope of Services

    • Training anywhere, anytime in the fundamentals of quality management systems, internal quality auditing, process improvement, problem solving techniques, and lean fundamentals.
    • Providing an extra set of hands on a project or running an entire project
    • Teaching your future leaders how to effectively implement change
    • Coaching individuals and process improvement teams to become more effective leaders and problem solvers
    • Helping your company prepare for various ISO certifications or conducting internal quality audits
    • Provide an interim Quality Manager or Project Manager
  • Process Improvement and ISO Services

    Process Improvement and ISO Services

    • ISO 9001 Gap Audits
    • ISO 13485 Gap Audits
    • TS 16949 Gap Audits
    • AS 9100 Gap Audits
    • ISO Systems Implementation to 9001, AS9100, 13485
    • Internal Quality Auditing for ISO-based Systems
    • Virtual QMS Audits
  • Training Programs

    Scheduled and On-site Training Programs

    We deliver programs at our locations or onsite anywhere in the U.S. and our experts work with you to ensure you get the targeted training you need. Practical, hands-on activities and discussions reinforce the concepts presented and our professional instructors are respected for delivering results! We offer many quality-related programs including:

Tap our quality experts’ deep knowledge and years of hands-on experience to make quality an integral part of your organization.

The title of ISO9001:2015 Executive Overview could cause a person’s eyes to glaze over. Our employees were impressed with the trainer’s knowledge and enthusiasm. The course material was understandable and challenging for a person with ISO experience but also for the novice in the group.

Gary Smith, Quality Engineer, Rotork Controls

Virtual QMS Audits

  • What is it?

    A certified Quality Management System (QMS) auditor can assist your organization with QMS internal audits or supplier QMS audits using virtual technologies to complete both a desk audit and a real-time audit without the auditor on-premise.

  • Why this service?

    All organizations that are certified to ISO standards are required to conduct internal audits of processes that are part of the QMS. Scheduling your own employees who are qualified internal auditors is not always an easy task. Everyone has a lot of demands on their time. MRA’s certified QMS auditors can assist by conducting the internal audits using remote technology.

  • What are the benefits?

    You company does not incur any travel-related expenses associated with an in-person audit. MRA can provide auditing services for any facility in any location. We can also offer these same services for your supplier qualification audits. Currently, audits are planned, conducted, and reported on in English.

    Remote auditing is less disruptive to the site facility’s daily work because the auditor is working remotely and only those interested parties taking part in the audit are directly affected.

  • What are the steps for organizational readiness for remote auditing?

    eAudit or Remote Audit

    The process of auditing is the same for an in-person audit or a remote audit, using a combination of asynchronous and synchronous tasks.

    1. The first step to plan a remote audit is for the MRA auditor and the primary auditee contact to look at the context of the organization, the role of interested parties, and a management risk analysis to verify that the audit criteria and audit plan can be fulfilled using remote methods. For example, let us say the audit criteria and plan required an auditor to observe a process on the production floor. The plan is to use a mobile video device carried by an auditee to “go see” the process. The company’s intellectual property policy does not allow video devices on the production floor. The audit criteria and plan cannot be fulfilled, so the audit cannot be done remotely.
       
    2. Remote auditing requires that the auditee company have access to various technology tools and methods as noted in item #3.

      Required technology tools:

      • Computer with video conferencing hardware (camera, VOIP, microphone).
      • Mobile video device that can link to the video conferencing software.
      • Audit site must have adequate onsite IT support for the day of the audit to troubleshoot any technology-related issues.
      • Interested parties, especially employees, must be comfortable with an interview conducted via video camera. These parties need to be able to log in to the video conferencing software or use a shared space with the video equipment available.
         
    3. Once the remote audit can be planned, the auditor and auditee need to verify the use of technology needed for conducting the audit. If the technology cannot be supported or is not available at the audit site, the remote audit cannot be conducted.

      How will audit criteria documented information be shared?

      • Email
      • DropBox
      • Microsoft Teams file share
      • Other, such as direct access to a limited part of the company’s networks

    What software will be used for the interviews and process observations? Requires a mobile video camera and screen sharing. Please note: MRA cannot currently support the use of drones as an auditing method.

    • Microsoft Teams and a video camera
    • Zoom Meetings and a video camera
    • Other options provided by the auditee

    4. The auditee organization should provide a remote auditing expectations overview to the affected interested parties. This helps set the stage for a successful remote auditing experience for all involved.

  • What happens on the day(s) of the audit?

    The MRA remote auditor will provide to the primary auditee contact the audit plan at least 3 business days in advance. The plan includes prior agreements for documented information needs for the desk audit and the plans for observing the process flow and conducting the interviews. The plan includes the time of day for the audit task. The primary auditee contact uses that plan to schedule interviews and observation times.

    The auditor and primary auditee work together to fulfill the audit plan.

    The auditor will write an audit report and provide that within 5 business days of the completion of the audit.

Quality Round Tables
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