CMC Electronics designs and produces leading technology electronics products for the aviation and global positioning markets.

Qualigram, an efficient solution to strengthen the quality management system (Interview - March 17th, 2009)

Olivier de Brouwer, Manager of quality assurance and ongoing improvement

What were the contexts and the issues set at the beginning of the project?

"About three years ago, when we started the project, we noticed the following situation: we had about 500 documented procedures in Word format. It was a cumbersome method that could neither enable updating in an easy manner nor could it show the links between the procedures.

In the end, we have gone from 500 to about 700 procedures as this project enabled us to identify missing procedures within the documentation."

What was your approach to implement QUALIGRAM solution?

"First of all, we have to justify the purchase of this solution financially even though the price was reasonable. The alternatives which have been considered originally were more expensive and underperforming. We are one of the first business enterprises in Quebec that has chosen QUALIGRAM solution.

Then, we set a priority list as well as a timeframe for the project. We had decided originally to establish a designer team for our process cartography, but finally, Stéphane Wagner, a consultant in quality system at CMC Electronics, looked at managing this part of the project. The heavy lifting in cartography was largely done by students in training at CMC.

We have tried also to focus on supporting the process owners rather than imposing them this approach. Finally, in order to be sure to put an end to the old documentation system, we asked that every request for change of any old procedure be systematically refused within reasonable limits. Today, the process owners have become the « advocates » of this approach as well as of QUALIGRAM software, and using it became merely a habit."

What are the lessons learned from implementing this tool?

"The main lesson that we have learned from this implementation is that we should not ignore the communication and training aspects related to the project (every three months, we used to update the advanced stage of the project). We should also think about a few tricks that could encourage people to use QUALIGRAM such as: installing QUALIGRAM counts (right on the desk of every employee as a shortcut access) on all computer workstations in order to have access in a single click. Simplicity and accessibility have helped us to get very good statistics concerning the consultation procedure: an average of 200 persons a week consults the documentation on QUALIGRAM e-server. In addition, all the forms were accessible through the procedures (just by clicking on cartographies), a process that makes it even easier in terms of consulting documents and allowing, by the same token, and a reminder of the overall procedure. Finally, the core strength of this implementation is that we have been able to carry the project to a successful conclusion without disrupting the organization: that is why the project has been viewed in a positive way by the employees as it did not disrupt the day to day operations."

How QUALIGRAM can help you support effectively your quality management system?

"In any effective quality management system, it is necessary to have good process documentation and a good description of the links between the various processes. QUALIGRAM has the capacity to do so and it can even distinguish different levels to make the documentation accessible to all with an efficient research system through keywords or tree structured features. In addition, an updating of this software can be done very quickly: just a phone call and a few clicks and a new version is ready to be sent for validation.

For instance, Stéphane Wagner has used QUALIGRAM to write the book on quality assurance for the resale division of nautical products, the book in question has been quite easily validated by the registrar and the 3 concerned plants have been certified ISO 9001 and AS9100."

Would you suggest a similar approach to other business enterprises?

"Most definitely yes because it helps a business to acquire a much more robust system. We plan to go to the next best business practices show to praise and present the advantages of the project. We should also be aware that such a project gives to the clients and the registrars a positive vision of the business performance."

What are the major benefits your clients have drawn from this project?

"Our clients can get from us a presentation on our processes in a clear and timely manner, either with QUALIGRAM e-server, or after having downloaded properly all documents on a USB key. By taking advantage of all these benefits, the clients have a better understanding and a greater confidence in our quality management system as they do know that we are in a position to control our inputs and outputs."

What would be your next steps from a technological point of view on the one hand and from a quality management point of view on the other?

"In general terms, we would like, first of all, to use more QUALIGRAM functionalities while making sure that, at every updating, these functionalities are consulted by all the people concerned. Then, to welcome the new employees, we would like to build profiles to which we will integrate all the procedures to be known, something we are more or less doing now but not in a formal way."

How do you assess the benefits of this project to the business enterprise?

"First of all, from a financial point of view, let us say that it was highly profitable. For instance, the documentation process is getting faster such as: the authoring, the updating, the access to documents and the validation (formerly, the documents that were sent for validation could get lost along the way). Today, employees use more often documented procedures, thus avoiding any variation to achieve them. In closing, we have to admit that helped facilitate internal and external audits, demonstrating though to clients that we do have a better control now."