Information Sheets > Case Studies on Simplification

LORIENT POLYPRODUCTS LIMITED

1. INTRODUCTION
   Lorient Polyproducts Ltd was initially registered with BSI to BS 5750 Part 2 in 1991. In the following three years the Company "outgrew" its management system to such an extent that it was averaging 15 customer complaints each month. In March 1994 the BSI surveillance assessment revealed a total of 21 nonconformities, six of which were against one single clause of the Standard and resulted in a major nonconformance being raised by the Assessor. The Company realised the significance of this and the implications of compulsory deregistration and appointed Allery Scotts Ltd to re-engineer the management system.
   
   
2. INITIAL REVIEW
   Allery Scotts carried out an Initial Review of the Company's "modus operandi" and concluded that the root of the problems lay in the suite of documentation which was neither coherent nor user friendly. In fact, had the documentation been subject to a desk study for initial registration at that time, it is extremely unlikely to have been successful. There were additional problems, for example at the "front end" of the business where orders were accepted without checking stock, then the system built in a 24 hour delay - even when the customer required next day delivery.
   
   
3. THE SOLUTION
   Allery Scotts proposal, which was accepted by the Company, was to critically examine each area of the operation whilst completely rewriting the Quality Management System to reflect what was actually happening in practice - provided that it concurred with the Standard. A briefing was held for senior management at which responsibilities were allocated and agreed for production of the documentation. The Consultant then visited each area of the operation to discuss with managers the existing working methods and to suggest alternatives where necessary. Managers then documented the agreed "solution" for comment by the Consultant at a later date. At the same time, advice was given on extending the scope of registration to include design and the Operating Procedures which would be required.
   
   
4. IMPLEMENTATION
   The implementation of the required changes was commenced during the project, particularly in the area of internal quality audits - the subject which had attracted several Nonconformity Reports from the BSI surveillance visits.
   
   
5. THE OUTCOME
   The outcome of the project was that the Company reduced customer complaints to zero and BSI surveillance visits produced no nonconformity Reports. As an organisation which carries out design work, the Company is currently registered to BS EN ISO 9001 : 1994.
   
   
6. COMMENTS BY THE COMPANY QUALITY MANAGER
   "After several poor surveillance visits from the BSI, Lorient made the decision to use the services of a Consultant to re-engineer the Quality Management System.

   After initial site visits, the Lorient management team accepted all of the Consultant's recommendations to improve the current system. The new system took six months to put in place, but resulted in zero nonconformities at the next BSI audit.

   Lorient has had sufficient confidence to progress the Quality Management System and is now registered to BS EN ISO 9001. Furthermore, the policies and procedures adopted in the new system have also been implemented in Lorient's Australian Company (where third party product approval has been achieved) and also in the Hong Kong branch."

   Nikki Taylor
   Quality Manager

B T MOBILE

1. INTRODUCTION
   BT Mobile were already registered with BSI to BS 5750, but BSI had not visited our Marketing & Corporate Business departments. The Quality Management System within Marketing & Corporate Business was fragmented and not effective. Our senior managers wanted the QMS to be reviewed and consolidated to produce a structure that would allow the innovative approach necessary in the fast moving and ever changing Marketing & Corporate environment that we compete in.
   
   
2. REVIEW
   Allery Scotts completed an initial review to discuss the way forward and timescales to complete the project in time for the BSI surveillance visit. The consultant noted after review and discussion that there was confusion regarding what was necessary to complete the project, procedures, work instructions, forms etc, and the difference between procedures and work instructions. It appeared that, in some areas, reasonable processes existed, whilst in others effective process did not exist.
   
   
3. SOLUTION
   Allery Scotts proposal which was accepted by the company, was to completely review the Marketing & Corporate Business work functions. Also to rationalise our existing QMS, to give the company an opportunity to develop more radical work practices that ensure we become more competitive and provide a system that adds value to the way we work. This was to be achieved whilst concurring with the standard. The consultant visited all of the areas of the operation to discuss and review with managers and clerical support staff the existing work practices. He concurred that the focus of the QMS will be towards delivering results to customers, using good project management as the basis of the system. The consultant devised a system that delivered customer focus which was within the scope of ISO9000. His recommendations were implemented prior to the BSI surveillance visit.
   
   
4. CONCLUSION
   The conclusion of the project was that the BSI surveillance visit produced a nil return on non-conformity reports, which was a first for any department within BT Mobile. Furthermore BSI commented on how well structured the QMS is in Marketing & Corporate Business.
   
   
5. SUMMARY
   "The outcome of the project was a great success, this can be attributed to the excellent advice and professional service that we received from the consultants, in fact it would not of been achievable without them".

John Hutchinson, Marketing Quality Manager
Karen Szpyrka, Corporate Business Quality Manager