Recently Advanced Machine underwent a third party audit to upgrade the QMS (Quality Management System) to AS9100 Rev. C. Most people who have been through an audit know it is a nerve-wracking experience. Prepared as we were, we knew there would be at least one question that would catch us like deer in the headlights. At the end of the day, we were very fortunate to have passed with flying colors. A good internal auditing process was a large part of our success, but I cannot leave out something else that was invaluable: the management review process. This is the periodic review of the QMS performed by upper management to analyze its effectiveness and irrefutably it is one of the most powerful players of the system.
Players is a telling word for what I’m about to do. Cue drum roll …
In the first stages of AS9100 implementation, I had a difficult time figuring out how to put together a cohesive process for management review. The tracking, the follow up, the requirements, and the final outcome had me spinning around looking for a starting point. It took a while to nail down a process that works for us so I thought I might be able to spare you some time by emphasizing a few things. Most ISO material tends to be a little dry, so in a spirit of light-heartedness, I’ve chosen to compare the management review process to that of a “revue”, like a play or musical, because – even though it seems like worlds apart – it has many of the same components. The various modules of management review must dovetail into one interconnected outcome. Like a play, when seen from the outside it is a seamless work of art. Internally however, each element tells a story. Using a bit of theatre language to help with definition, I hope to provide insight into the 5 building blocks of… House lights up! … Management Revue, the Musical! Curtain please….
Management Review Building Block #1: Top Management
In the world of theatre, the person who puts together a theatrical production is known as the Producer. Among many things he obtains financial backing, hires the director, and oversee all budgetary issues. Without the producer the show does not go on. On the other hand, if the producer chooses to be uninvolved in the routine activities of putting on a performance, he risks failure of the entire production.
As all business experts attest, lack of oversight by higher-ups in company operations is unwise. And yet often, when it comes to the QMS, once top management has assigned quality control duties to other people, they wander back to their offices never to be seen at management review meetings again. Understanding and interpreting an ISO standard to your company’s unique processes can be a stringent, time-consuming task. Inevitably more pressing matters intervene and drive the priority downward. Nonetheless, in order for the management review process to be beneficial to the company, top management must actively participate. To create a QMS with a goal of improving the company’s functionality and then not partake in its effectiveness is like putting on a Kardashian-style wedding and filing for divorce in 72 days. Pointless, wouldn’t you agree?
Management Review Building Block #2: Management Representative.
There is no underestimating the enormity of the director’s position in the realm of theatre. This is the person who provides the vision of how a show should be presented. The director is chosen by the producer and among many things, he must interpret the complexities of the performance. Often, the commercial success of a show depends upon the director.
The AS9100 Rev C standard says top management shall appoint a person within the organization to ensure that all processes needed for the QMS are established, implemented and maintained. This person is known as the Management Representative, and just as a director, they carry a lot of weight on their shoulders. Management Representatives are crucial to ensuring the QMS is functioning successfully and, most importantly, they must have “organizational freedom and unrestricted access to top management to resolve quality management issues.”1 The choice of individual for this position should be carefully considered for their experience, dedication, aptitude, and extraordinary ability to stay awake when deciphering clauses.
Management Review Building Block #3: Meeting Schedule.
A good play or musical has a definitive number of performances scheduled before opening night and this is often referred to as the “run of the play”. Boiled down, it is a set course of action which determines all other actions connected to it: i.e. theatre space is booked, actors’ are chosen, tickets are sold in advance, managers, assistants and stage hands are hired, and above all, contracts are written.
A management review meeting schedule is a takeoff on the run. It is the binding agent that forces commitment to the QMS. But I’d like to take the analogy one step further. Management review meetings are not just meetings, they are mindsets. In this way, they live with you much like a character is absorbed by an actor during the course of a play. The meeting itself addresses agenda items but the outcome is concurrently an open and closed event. And since the schedule sets both the start and finish of QMS effectiveness discussions, it serves as an important point of reference for matters such as continual improvement, corrective action follow up, customer satisfaction, training and quality objective metrics.
Management Review Building Block #4: Meeting Agenda.
It might be daring to have a play or musical based solely upon improvisation, but without a script, even the most brilliant cast can no longer find words to tell the story. The plot, if there is one, dies while the audience, bored and most likely confused, wanders out the door. Plays are written in “acts” so a story can unfold. They are the underpinning that keeps actors on the same page and stage hands standing by. When “acted”, the play moves from beginning to end fulfilling certain dramatic elements and ensuring the audience will remain in their seats until the curtain comes down.
Just as acts are necessary to the process of play-acting, so is the role of the agenda to the management review meeting. You must have an agenda in order to accomplish anything. And just like a play needs three acts to perform its task, an agenda needs … bullet points at the least. In other words, you don’t necessarily need to follow a stringent protocol, but the reason for the meeting must be evident and observable. Agendas for our management review meetings are really a work of art. They start taking shape the day after the last meeting in the form of rough notes on a yellow legal pad. Every time something comes across as an item for discussion, it gets jotted down. Often there are doodles. By the time the next management review meeting rolls around, there are at least 10 dog-eared pages of agenda items illustrated with hieroglyphics and stained coffee cup rings. Rarely do these notes take on any formal attributes, but I confess, not wanting to take any chances, I typed the last agenda for our third party auditor. The important thing about an agenda is to have one.
Management Review Building Block #5: Input and Output.
There is a well known line from Shakespeare’s play Hamlet that goes, “The play’s the thing.” Replace the word “play” with “part” and you have an ideal metaphor for a machine shop in action. Equipment and employees are set up in positions to facilitate the most effective use of resources, hence, they are “staged”. Work is produced according to procedures and work instructions, just as a “script” is used by actors. Top management is the “audience” intently watching the performance indicators (the actors). And in the end the quality of the part is a measurement of how well everything is working. All are components – the inputs and outputs – of process management.
It was hard for me to get my mind around the concept of input and output. Worried I would miss the point entirely, I began over-thinking it. I finally realized it is that simple. What goes in must come out. Management review meetings analyze various performance indicators: the data goes into the system, results are assessed based upon the outcome, and actions are taken (outputs) to continually improve process performance. Plan-do-check-act. Act? There it is again, the theatre reference… My confession at the end of all this is that making this analogy was more of a stretch than I anticipated. Although the theatre references came fairly easy, the management review process as a comparison required deeper analysis. But that’s how it goes… ISO standards are to be interpreted and when applied, the interpretation is given a wide berth. Some may call this artistic license. So I ask again, cannot the same be said of theatre? Shakespeare thought as much. In As You Like it, he wrote,
“All the world’s a stage
And all the men and women merely players”.
To me this means that theatre is life, in its innumerable forms and functions. We are always performing. But the manifestation of that performance may be whatever you chose, at whatever moment. Ad infinitum.
So as the curtain draws on Management Revue, the Musical… let’s take a bow and wait for the next act to roll out. I promise to make it interesting!
1. Page 13, SAE AS9100C, 5.5.2 d)
