FAQs
Here you will find frequently asked questions, if you do not find your question here please contact us and we will try to answer your question
FQAs
What is a business management system?
In essence, a business management system is about quality assurance across your business, so this is about doing your best, knowing what is regarded to be “good”, knowing your performance, checking your performance against a standard and making improvements where you see an opportunity. This is documented so that everyone in the business understands it and it helps control documentation, risks, objectives, KPIs, management reviews, continuous improvement and creates consistency.
Think of the business management system in terms of baking a cake; you start with the right equipment (oven), the correct ingredients, you have the recipe, you then follow the recipe (procedure), you ensure the correct utilisation of equipment (oven temperature and time), the mix then transforms into a cake, you decorate to add value and you sell a quality product.
What is the Cost of Poor Quality?
The Cost of Poor Quality (CoPQ) is the cost in time and money that your business is losing due to issues and wastes which is coming off your bottom line. These costs are often hidden in plain sight and we call it the hidden factory or office. Good work is doing it right first time, but bad work are things such as hold-ups, delays, rework, long set up times, cancelled orders, design faults, etc. By tackling these costs profits will increase and you can command a premium price as you will create high consumer confidence and high demand.
What principles do we use?
There are 8 principles that we use when looking at your business these are:
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Customer focus – this is not only about existing customers but also about being the first to market with a new product or service
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Leadership – leaders must build the capabilities of people, build teams of mutually supporting members and establish unity of purpose and the direction that the organisation must take.
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Involvement of people – the business needs to develop a culture in which everyone in the business from top to bottom is involved in order to become the best in the industry. In order to do this quality circles or other forms of self-managing approaches are required.
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Process approach – every person in the operations process is the customer of the previous process and the supplier of the next process, so the question of does the internal supplier meet our needs and does the operations meet their internal customer needs?
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Systems approach – the business needs to understand and manage interrelated processes as a system which contributes to the business’s effectiveness and efficiency in achieving objectives
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Continuous improvement – the business needs a structured and disciplined approach to continuous improvement to ensure that the rate of improvements count.
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Factual approach – the business needs to analyse data and information to ensure that decisions are based on facts and to understand the gap between the current and future state
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Mutual beneficial supplier relationships – the supplier must become an extension of the business’s own processes with the control coming from the business therefore, the business cannot abdicate responsibility for the quality of its product or service to the supplier.
Is an App a system?
No, an App is just a small cog in a process as an App cannot do everything to run your process, system or business. An App is created to be generic and therefore not bespoke to your business so there are parts of an App that will not be effective for your business.
Is there software available to run the Business Management System?
There are various software available to run the business management system but you need to see if the cost of buying it or having a licence and have training on the software is worth it to your business as you still have to create documentation, audit reports etc. to input into the software
Does it take long to implement a Business Management System?
The basics don’t take long to do but it does need management commitment to move it from the basics to across the organisation, as management needs to own the Business Management System and ensure that everyone is involved, so communication and culture will be important in order for the business management system to become organisation-wide.
Why should I implement a Business Management System?
The Business Management System will allow you to work on your business and not in your business due to the following:
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Greater efficiency and effectiveness
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Consistent control of processes
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An understanding of customer needs
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Increased customer satisfaction
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Regulation of good working practices
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Improved risk management
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Participation of employees
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Improved internal communication
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Greater consistency in the quality of products and/or services
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Differentiation of your business from your competitors
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Increased profits
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Reduction of errors
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The exploitation of new markets
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Managing growth effectively
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An embedded culture of quality and problem-solving
Should you decide to sell the business you can secure a higher price as the business can run without you.
What is continuous improvement?
Once you have a documented and stable processes this becomes your datum point from which you can then begin to see how each of the processes can be improved. This is done by the people who are actually doing the work with support from the management team. The result being is that the processes will become more effective and efficient, the people who have made the improvements will become problem solvers and in the majority of cases, you will have reduced costs and/or time. Then once stabled the improved processes will become the next datum point, ready to improve again.
How do you charge?
We charge by the project which makes it cheaper for you as you will not pay an expensive hourly rate. We charge you 50% upfront for small projects and the remainder once the project has been completed as per our agreed plan.
On larger projects, we will charge a monthly rate until the project is completed as per our agreed plan
How much do you charge?
Our prices are variable as it depends on the project that we are working on. If for example the project consists of supplying quality management systems documents including manuals, procedures, forms, cost of poor quality, etc. and we provide some basic training and help you create your own standard work, procedures, then the cost would be around £4500.
If for example we had to do a bigger project such as work with you to get all of your documents written, run training courses, schedule and carry out internal audits, facilitate management reviews, etc. in order to get you ready for an ISO 9001 certification then the price would go up as there is much more work to do. More time would have to be spent onsite with you. We would have to ensure everyone on site understands what is required of them, your processes will have to comply with the standard and you have to demonstrate continuous improvement. As can be seen, there are lots of variables so in some areas, we can go quicker and in other areas, things will go slower so the length of the project and the inputs required cannot be predetermined so we would charge around £8,000 per month.
What continuous improvement methodology do you use?
We tend to use Lean tools and techniques as our main methodology this begins by talking to all of your senior management team and explaining that Lean begins with respect for people, which starts with communicating to your workforce that no one will lose their jobs due to improvements made through continuous improvement but they may be retrained and redeployed. If you and your management team cannot commit to this then we cannot work with you as it does not fit in with Lean or our values.
Why is your Train the Trainer course better than other similar courses?
In our Train the Trainer course, in-house trainers are taught how to deliver courses and workshops. They are also taught how to build a training session or workshop.
A staff member that has been selected to deliver internal training may know the subject thoroughly, but has that person ever been shown how to build a session in a way that will get the best results?
Our Train the Trainer course is very interactive, right from the start and we use different methods to get the trainers on the course to think about how they can deliver great training. The exercises that are undertaken by the trainers simulate the issues that they will come across within the workplace that demonstrates poor communication from which they can learn from and introduce countermeasures. They will also understand about different learning styles, and learn what their own learning styles are so they can adapt how they deliver training to the trainee. They will learn how to deal with difficult trainees and how to assess the training for effectiveness.
What people have said about the course:
A great course, worth being on, well presented & communicated, very good confidence builder.
H Dilks
Didn't just Train the Trainer but work quite effectively at ice breaking & presentation/confidence skills
D Kershaw
Enjoyed the practical learning of the structure & helps make it real
K Grant
I enjoyed the course and have found it relevant and useful moving forward
R Smith
A very well presented and enjoyable course. Good interactions.
J Youell