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April 30, 2008

The Importance of a Written Quality Management System

Like Safety, Quality is an integral part of a company’s day-to-day operations.  If you do not have a documented process to control these activities, the likelihood of overlooking an important task is high.  When you have a formal program, it helps to ensure that you “Do What You Plan”, “Plan What You Do”, and “Document What You Did”.
 

Improve Performance and Increase Customer Satisfaction when you:

  1. Do What You Plan. Review the scope of work, list the tasks at hand in the sequence they are to be conducted, and only do the work you plan.
  2. Plan What You Do. Before beginning any work, be sure to follow the applicable procedure, form or checklist you prepared in step 1.
  3. Document What You Did. Be sure to document all aspects of the work you performed.  If something was done differently, or not at all, be sure to record it.

If you didn’t plan it, didn’t do it as planned, or document your work; it will be difficult at best for you to support a position that the work was done to the requirements of your Quality Management System, Procedures, and Forms.
 

A Quality System Manual will help bring your company to the next level.  If you do not have one, consider utilizing an audit consultant to assist your team, or perform this for you, so that you can focus on what’s most important to you - your customers.

At Storti Quality Consulting, we take pride in helping our customers use quality management practices to enhance results and increase profits.  If you’d like to talk about Quality, please call us at 215.657.0837, send an email to ralph.storti@storticonsulting.net, or visit our website, www.storticonsulting.net.

Posted by Ralph.Storti at 12:35 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

April 22, 2008

Pouring Cost Going Up! Profits Coming Down! - What Should I Do?

With stiffer laws and penalties for DUI (Driving Under The Influence), many bars and restaurants are noticing a decline in patronage. If that is not enough to get your attention, the wholesale cost of alcohol continues to increase too. Is every drink being paid and/or accounted for? Raising prices across the board is not the answer.
 
First start out by conducting and maintaining a weekly beverage inventory control system. If you do not have one, you need to set one up now. The cost is minimal, and it will give you a quick picture of what your overall pouring costs are. You set the level, monitor it weekly, and then hold your employees accountable to it.
 
A physical inventory of alcohol on hand, purchased and consumed; along with receipts for the period will prove very beneficial in determining where you establishment is at any given week. This system is easy to set up, and inexpensive to maintain. If you have implemented this system, and still have high pouring costs, there is one more step.
 
If the cost of your drinks range from lets say $2.00 to $7.00, and the wholesale cost of these products varies too; some pouring costs may be low, others may be ok; however there may be several that are quite high. Lumping them together will give you an average of all; however this will not help you identify the ones that are out of line.
 
You will need to conduct a one-time analysis of each drink price (Happy Hour, Regular and Late Night) to get a true pouring cost. With this you will see first hand which one(s) are helping or hurting your efforts. The next step is to identify those that are driving your profits down, re-calculate a fair price, and watch your profit margin increase.
 
Some companies will say, “We can’t afford it”. My response is, “You can’t afford to not have it” .If you don’t have the time or resources, consider utilizing an outside consultant to assist your team, or perform this for you, so that you can focus on what’s most important to you – your customers.

At Storti Quality Consulting, we take pride in helping our customers use quality management practices to enhance results and increase profits.  If you’d like to talk about Quality, please call us at 215.657.0837, send an email to ralph.storti@storticonsulting.net, or visit our website, www.storticonsulting.net.

 

Posted by Ralph.Storti at 01:18 PM | | TrackBacks (0)

April 19, 2008

Are We Ready for Our Upcoming Registrar Audit – Aaaaah!

The consensus is unanimous – the Registrar is coming.  Although many companies are ISO 9000 certified, their ability to oversee all aspects of the Quality Management System is difficult at best.  No one wants to receive an unsatisfactory audit report or finding, but the situation is not hopeless! 


Here are three quick tips that you may find helpful: 

  1. Review your Quality System Manual Requirements and Current Internal Audit Schedule to ensure all functional areas and processes have in fact been audited.  This helps guarantee that all activities have been evaluated.
     

  2. Your written quality, safety and operating procedures are important.  Review all Non-Conformities, Corrective Actions and Enhancements to ensure that all identified issues have in fact been addressed, and properly closed.
     

  3. If either of these tasks has not been performed, or is incomplete, address them now before the registrar comes in.  The extra time you spend up front will help save you time and money on the back end.  It is better for you to self-identify a problem, then wait for the registrar to find it.
     

If you don’t have the time or resources, consider utilizing an audit consultant to assist your team, or perform this for you, so that you can focus on what’s most important to you – your customers. At home we turn to roofers, plumbers or a handyman when we need assistance – so why should things be any different in business? 
 

At Storti Quality Consulting, we take pride in helping our customers use quality management practices to enhance results and increase profits.  If you’d like to talk about Quality, please call us at 215.657.0837, send an email to ralph.storti@storticonsulting.net, or visit our website, www.storticonsulting.net.

Posted by Ralph.Storti at 01:25 PM | | TrackBacks (0)


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