Creating Effective Quality Management Documentation
Effective Quality Management Documentation is the backbone of a ISO 9001:2015 quality program. The documentation created therefore should be clear, concise, and targeted for its intended audience. Documents serve to explain and instruct all stakeholders on policies, procedures, and work instructions. They also provide the basis for evaluation for continuous improvement and organizational development.
Documentation Requirements
Documentation requirements will vary in complexity and from organization to organization. Factors that will determine this complexity include:
- The size of the organization
- Activities of the organization
- Types of processes and products
- Complexity of those processes
- Level of competence of intended audience
Document requirements serve several purposes in the quality program. High level documents are required for defining the scope, processes, policies, and objectives of the program. Lower level documentation is required to define organizational responsibilities, procedures, work instructions, quality plans and other information. Additional documentation is required for providing the results of quality processes. These documents are required for demonstrating conformity.
Knowledge as a Basis for Documentation
Because we are all products of an educational system that rewards the perception of competency, it is easy to create obtuse documents. Real knowledge of a given subject provides a basis for simple and clear documentation. This will effectively convey expectations of performance and establish goal posts for review.
Required knowledge includes an understanding of the upper level objectives of the quality program, the Context of the Organization, who the stake holders are, and what audience the document is intended for.
CVG Strategy Quality Experts Can Help
CVG Strategy provides Quality Management System (QMS) consulting services for ISO 9001:2015, AS9100, ISO 27001, and other standards. We can help your organization establish and modify a QMS that can improve your business performance and save money. We can provide training and auditing services. CVG can also provide a complete documentation set, customized for your program requirements.
Contact Us today to see what our certified quality management experts can do for you.