Seoul 2000 FISITA World Automotive Congress June 12-15, 2000, Seoul, Korea F2000G300 Establishment of ISO9001 Quality System with Management System for Intra-net Nobuo Iwamura 1) 1)Mitsubishi Automotive engineering Co.,Ltd.Office of ISO Certification Promotion, 21-1,Shimomaruko 4-chome,Ohta-ku,Tokyo,146-0092 Japan This paper presents the establishment of ISO9001 quality system for whole 9 sites of our company with paper-less/papersaving documentation system utilizing Intra-net, together with the development and utilization of PMS( Management System) which provides us with higher efficiency to manage the process and procedures of whole projects and to control the quality records. Keywords: Quality, Information System, Management,,ISO9001, Intra-net 1.INTRODUCTION As described in the introduction of the ISO Standard, the success of corporate management systems rests upon the degree of involvement of every level and department of a corporation. In particular, the firm commitment of the top management is essential (1). This philosophy has gained recognition among corporations, and has resulted in a recent increase in the number of corporations successfully obtaining certification. On a worldwide basis, it is reported that 226,000 corporations successfully acquired certification in the ISO 9000 series in 129 countries as of the end of 1997, while in Japan, 6,500 instances have been reported (statistical source: The ISO Survey). There has been a particularly marked increase in the number of certificate acquisitions in South East Asia in recent years (2). The sophistication of information technology as well as the spread of the Internet and other advanced communication networks in the business community are transforming the corporate management system in a profound manner as we enter the new millennium. Under these circumstances, the Mitsubishi Automobile Engineering Corporation, an engineering company in the automobile-related industry, has developed a new process management system known as the PMS ( Management System), aiming to acquire ISO 9001 certification with a paperless document management system. The PMS serves as the core of our ISO9001 certification project. In what follows we shall introduce an overview of the PMS. 2. Background to and Purpose of the PMS 2.1 Background With respect to the establishment and management of the process of a quality assurance system and process control procedures required under the ISO 9001, we consider it extremely important for us, as an engineering company, to establish procedures for managing and standardizing a wide range of operations. Bearing this recognition in mind, in October 1997 we officially launched the project targeting the ISO certification. We aimed to complete necessary preparations within a short period of time and obtain the certification in the final examination slated for December 1998, and accordingly started working towards establishing the required system (3). Our company conducts diverse operations ranging from development, designing and testing, and production engineering, to engineering services for complete vehicles and their parts and components. Our geographical coverage is also wide, stretching from the Kanto to the Chugoku regions. The system adopted should therefore be extensive and commensurate with the diversity and size of our business operations. In the initial stage of the system development, we investigated various document management tools in the market and found few process management tools which constituted the basis of the management of operations. Nor did we find any systems conforming with the ISO 9001. 2.2 Purpose In order to establish a functional and efficient system which can clearly manage schedules, procedures and records by standardizing diverse operational processes and enabling wide geographical coverage, the following points should be satisfied. 1Operational procedures should be sorted out and made into patterns, and they should then be classified into clearly distinguishable categories, thereby clarifying otherwise ambiguous procedures. 2Top management and managers must confirm the state of progress on a regular basis. The paper-less document management system should therefore be established and representatives of each regional office should be linked through an on-line network. It was necessary for us to establish a company-wide system which could satisfy these requirements. For this purpose, we decided to develop the PMS, a core system for our ISO9001 acquisition project. The system 1
development process as well as achievements, will be discussed in the following chapters. 3. Standardization of Operational Procedures We investigated the diverse operations of our five main Offices: Passenger Car Development & Engineering, Truck & Bus Development & Engineering, Production Engineering, Special Purpose Vehicle & Engineering, and Engineering & Technical Service. As a result of this investigation, our operational processes and process flows were classified into 11 categories as per Table 1. In this General Table, the forms of orders have been classified into Individual, Lump-sum, and Subcontracted. The operations of each order category have then been classified into: Engineering, Designing, Development (including testing and evaluation), and Manufacturing (including vehicle production contracts and equipment production). In line with process standardization, managers of individual processes ( Manager) as well as the Project Manager who shall oversee the entire project, have been determined with their positions clearly displayed on the Table to clarify their responsibility. 4. PMS Table 4.1 Managed Items In order to respond to all quality requirements, including customer specifications or requests and intra-company standards, the operational processes and management methods have been determined as follows: 1Operational Pattern 2Individual Contents 3Individual Pprocess Scheduling 4Project Manager and Managers 5Operational Procedures (e.g. standards) 6Individual Operations Quality Records (outputs) These items have been determined in accordance with the 11 operation categories specified in Chapter 3. This procedure complies with the requirements of the Quality Planning section of the ISO 9001; "The supplier shall define and document how the requirements for quality will be met." The overview of the PMS flow is shown in Figure 1. 4.2 Responsibility and Authority The Project Manager and Managers, and their operational responsibility as well as their authority over access to documents have been determined as follows, for the purpose of ensuring efficient operations, maintaining the management system for quality assurance and securing confidentiality. 1Project Manager The Senior General Manager shall be responsible for the inter-office operations while matters confined to a specific office shall be managed by the General Manager of that office. Subcontracted operations which require particularly high management standards shall, however, in principle, be managed by the Senior General Manager. (See Table 1) 2 Manager Group leaders or above (section managers) who possess approval authority shall be appointed as Managers. 3Personnel in charge of data entry (including drafting and revision) Personnel (group leaders or above who are the supervisors of front line activities) having an ID number for the Livelink, commercial document management software available in the market, as described in Chapter 5.1, shall be responsible for the production of the PMS Table, a screen which is activated and used for registering data into a ledger in accordance with the number data provided in the PMS Table. Revisions of the Table shall also be restricted to personnel in the relevant group possessing the ID. Created or revised data are approved by the Manager or by the Project Manager by clicking the approval button. This provides the proof of approval and ensures easy operation. 4Authority to access data Above mentioned personnel possessing an ID shall have access to data contained in all the PMS tables of the entire company. 4.3. Display Screens The following two screens are used for data processing and for data access. 1General Screen: This screen displays all processes in all related groups. 2Extended Screen: This screen displays only the specific activities performed in an office, group or task unit (separable depending on the content of operation) in an extended screen format. 4.4 Identification of Screen Displays In order to identify, at a glance, the descriptions of each line (title and name of process), e.g. whether the project is in pre or post approval status, the background color of each line is changed automatically from one color to another in accordance with the state of progress as follows: 1The project at the planning stage, or in the revision stage and awaiting approval: 2The project plan has been approved: 3The completed project has been approved: 4The process deletion has been examined and awaiting approval: (to call the other workers attention) 4.5 Format Setting The format for each of 11 operational categories described in Chapter 3 has been established. For this format, managed items such as planned completion and 2
actual completion, name of processes, contents of operations, and responsible personnel, have been determined. This format enables the user to identify and call up the operation standards of the individual process, and to input data for quality records. Examples of typical format are attached as Figure 2 for A1: Individual Engineering Orders and Figure 3 for C3: Subcontracted Development Orders. 5. Computer Network System 5.1 System Construction In order to facilitate the information flow among different operations categories and geographical areas, the emphasis has been placed on the paperless documentation system utilizing computer systems. To establish the documentation system which unifies creation and approval of, as well as access to, documents, the Livelink has been installed on the Intranet. The Livelink is document management software developed by OpenText Corp., U.S. and incorporates numerous groupware functions. This tool is available in the market, and is used also by the ISO head office in Geneva, Switzerland. For system maintenance convenience, the server for document management has been located in our Kawasaki site, which is close to our head office in Tokyo, and is a frequent line user (see Figure 4). Considering the data capacity and transmission speed for the PMS, we have established the server and database separately in our Okazaki site, Aichi prefecture, which houses the largest number of employees and uses the line frequently. Both server and database, connecting nine sites through a network, are operating smoothly in exchanging data in a company-wide unified format. During FY1998, the initial year of our project, we faced some difficulties in processing data, because we created the entire PMS table (congregation of all processes) using the Excel spreadsheet and called that table up on to the Livelink screen. The data load was too heavy to process quickly, and the response was slow. In order to improve the situation, we separated each line (each process) of the PMS table in FY1999. All process data is now controlled independently in a new, more mature data management system called the next generation PMS. This has improved response speed considerably. 5.2 Filing Structure Documents including quality manuals, standards, and quality records are filed in the "Library," a document file of the Livelink. In order to quickly call up the PMS data, line data needed to process the PMS table are directly filed in the database server to enable users to get access to the necessary data without going through the Library. The screen structure is designed to co-exist with and associate with the PMR, a man-hour control system (separately systematized and already in operation), which is closely related to the schedule management of the PMS. 6. Current Status of the System Operation The PMS has started its full-scale operation since June 1998 and the number of PMS tables registered in the system totaled 2,024 by the end of FY1998. The system is actively used for our business operations. Figure 5 shows the number of orders classified by office and by order category. A: Individual Orders, B: Lumpsum Orders and C: Subcontracted Orders. Figure 6 shows the percentages of A, B and C for each office. The figure shows that both Development Offices have received more orders in category A (Individual Orders) and B (Lump-sum Orders), while the Office of Special Purpose Vehicle & Engineering has received more subcontracted orders. When we underwent the examination for the ISO 9001 certification, each office was requested to present its operation procedures and quality records. Since we were able to present the PMS which clearly documents the governing standards and quality records, we could respond swiftly, clearly and smoothly in the examination. We consider that this was one major reason for the successful certification our company. 7. Conclusion We have developed and introduced the PMS, a paperless, on-line documentation system which suits our company features, supported by the enthusiastic initiatives taken by individual offices and a total, united endeavor exerted by all employees. With this PMS, we could successfully establish the computer management system for our operational processes and set it on a smooth track. Furthermore, it helped facilitate our efforts for acquiring the ISO9001 certification, and helped us launch a smooth ISO project start-up. The effects and future prospects of the PMS can be summarized as follows: (1) It enables us, as an engineering company which encompasses diverse operations and covers wide geographical areas, to categorize operational processes into a minimal number of patterns. The standardization of processes and paper-less documentation help us to achieve favorable results. (2) By transforming our data management system into a paper-less, on-line system, we can get access to necessary data at anytime from anywhere in our company, including from remote locations. This has accelerated the speed of our operation management activities. (3) By clarifying the responsible personnel and governing standards, faster shipment and improved quality are expected. 3
(4) By clarifying the operational processes, we can confirm the contents of engineering contracts with customers, and improve communication with relevant offices and with higher level staff. (5) Although this operation process management system responds to the current ISO requirements, it is likely that further changes will be examined for management and documentation requirements in the revision of ISO 9000 series slated for 2000 (4). Our PMS is a very flexible system that anticipates and responds to such possible changes. (6) After numerous improvements, the new generation PMS is now in operation. We will further upgrade the system by collecting feedback from the lowest levels of the entire company and make it even more user-friendly. (7) In conclusion, we will be very pleased if our endeavor to create a new process and document management system which can easily be operated on a computer, and was hitherto unavailable in the market, will be of a help to the reader wishing to acquire ISO certification in the future. 8.References (1) JIS Z 9901:1998 Quality Systems - Model for quality assurance in design, development, production, installation and servicing, and JIS Q 14001:1996 Environmental management systems - Specification with guidance for use, Japan Industrial Standards (2) The ISO Survey ISO Head Office (3) MAE Technical Report 1999 No. 8, Mitsubishi Automobile Engineering Corp. (4) ISO 9000 series (second CD) Revision Movement text, Japan Industrial Standards 9.ACKNOWLEDGMENT Lastly, we should like to express our deep appreciation to all the people in our company and beyond, who have given us precious advice and extended generous cooperation from the beginning of this project. 4
Table1 General PMS table Order Operation category category A Individual I B Lump-sum C Subcontracted A1 Engineering A2 Design Responsibility General Manager General Manager Typical operations Production equipment planning Production engineering Design Tests B1 Engineering General Manager Catalogue & service manuals Drawings & references management Design B2 Design General Manager Remodel design Product development B3 Development Senior General Project design & tests Manager Remodel design & tests C1 Engineering Senior General Patent Investigation Manager Product planning Parts design for other C2 Design companies C3 Development Senior General Special vehicles & tests C4Vehicle production Manager Special vehicle production C5 Prospective Prospective vehicle production production Production of products developed in-house C6 Equipment production Design & Production of production equipment 5
Operational flow (Basic) Contract Individual Manager Project Manager Data Entry (personnel having an ID) Registration of numbers (ledger) Planned schedule Individual Manager format Designate Management Data Input Activate Related Managers Person in charge Planning Input Review Output Verify Deliver PMS Table Complete Access Figure 1 Overview of the PMS Flow 6
Title PMS No. Dept. Code Operation No. Order category Operation category A 1 Office Dept. Group Model Name Project Manager Entrusted person Delivered product Date of data entry Planned completion Actual com-pletion Operation Contents Planned completion Actual com-pletion Operation Contents Quality record No. Contract Task request delivery note Scheduling Schedule list Test schedule Test plans Interim report1 Plan verification Input Tests Review Coordination meetings Interim report 2 Reports Output Test reports Verification Test result verification Shipment Test report submission manager Standard Standard No. Figure 2 A1 Individual Engineering Order Format 7
Title PMS No. Dept. Code Operation No. Order category Operation category C 3 Office Dept. Group Model Name Project Manager Entrusted person Delivered product Date of data entry Planned completion Actual com-pletion Operation Contents Planned completion Actual com-pletion Operation Contents Quality record No. Contract Task request delivery note Scheduling Schedule list Design planning Design plans Interim report1 Plan verification Input 1 PEG & Design model data Input 2 CAE analysis Design review Design review reports Interim report 2 Reports Output Drawing, lists, EO submission Design Drawing, lists, examination EO submission manager Standard Standard No. Delivery 1 Design verification Delivery 2 Quality assurance meeting Delivery 3 Drawing, lists, EO submission Test result Test report submission Quality assurance meeting minute Submission of quality assurance meeting minute & development completion report Figure 3 C3 Subcontracted Development Order Format 8
Figure 4 Outline of network Outline of network Tokyo Maruko Toyama Kawasaki Okazaki Document data base Intranet PMS data base Intranet server PMS server Kizuregawa Kyoto Nagoya Mizushima 水 島 9