ISO 17025 Quality Manual Template
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Implementing Continuing Improvement in the Lab
Step 1 - define the need to improve:
Scenario - an audit and management review found that turnaround times from sample receipt through lab analysis to final reporting had increased over time but still met the quality objective of 10 business days. However, in several instances, customers had requested results in 7 business days. The reduction of turnaround times to 7 days and subsequent increase in productivity was identified to be made as a result of the management review process. Thus far the lab has determined current performance, established a need to improve, made a commitment, and defined the objective.
The next step is employing the lab staff to document the current process by using a flow diagram of the sample process and measuring the time between each step to determine the cause of the lab's current performance. In this instance, the lab discovered the bottlenecks were manual sample log-in and manual sample reporting with transcription errors in the data transfer process causing repeat work and delays.
Step 2 - find the solution:
Step 3 - implement the plan:
Step 4 - monitor the performance:
Scenario - an audit and management review found that turnaround times from sample receipt through lab analysis to final reporting had increased over time but still met the quality objective of 10 business days. However, in several instances, customers had requested results in 7 business days. The reduction of turnaround times to 7 days and subsequent increase in productivity was identified to be made as a result of the management review process. Thus far the lab has determined current performance, established a need to improve, made a commitment, and defined the objective.
The next step is employing the lab staff to document the current process by using a flow diagram of the sample process and measuring the time between each step to determine the cause of the lab's current performance. In this instance, the lab discovered the bottlenecks were manual sample log-in and manual sample reporting with transcription errors in the data transfer process causing repeat work and delays.
Step 2 - find the solution:
Step 3 - implement the plan:
Step 4 - monitor the performance:
Labels: laboratory continuing improvement
