Quality Assurance

Instituting a quality assurance program in a small business
By Janet Krenn, Communications Officer Quicksilver Scientific Business quality assurance is the process of continuously making your processes run more smoothly and your products superior to those of your competition. These quality programs are complicated and could require the help of quality assurance managers as well as quality assurance specialists.

You don't need a big budget to institute a solid QA program. Once you get the info on quality assurance, you can set up a business quality assurance plan that will work with your budget. You should:

1. Research quality assurance information for your industry.

2. Find a professional to help draft a QA plan.

3. Institute quality assurance testing at you business.

Research quality assurance information for your industry

Government or non-government organizations may audit companies in your industry. Make sure to investigate the QA requirements before drafting a plan.
Try:  Consult accrediting and regulatory agencies before starting your QA plan. NELAC and the Government Accountability Office for clinical sciences are two accrediting bodies for laboratories. For factories and manufacturers, OSHA and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission have important information regarding QA. For the food industry, you'll want to review FDA food quality guidelines.

Draft your business quality assurance plan

As with other aspects of your business' management, a good QA program cannot get off the ground without a clearly defined plan of how to monitor and respond to quality assurance testing.
Try:  Hire an experienced quality assurance specialist or manager to write your QA plan. Try networking with others in your industry or a social networking website, such as LinkedIn. If you decide to have an in-house generalist write your QA manual, make sure you reference examples and possibly even try a template.

Get the personnel to keep your business quality assurance plan going

A good quality assurance program will assign quality assurance managers and quality assurance specialists to the task of constantly monitoring your business's activities.
Try:  Use MSOURCE, WinMill and Global Quality Alliance for their quality assurance consulting services for businesses. Of course, you could also train your current employees. The American Society for Quality and RTI International offer online programs to bring your current employees up to snuff.

Perform quality assurance testing and a quality systems audit regularly

The cornerstone of a good quality assurance plan for businesses is the quality systems audit. The quality systems audit is a process that tests how well your business is following the QA plan. It also can be useful in identifying areas that your business should work on.
Try:  Try your own internal quality assurance audit. The Government Accountability Office has a document that guides you through an audit. Check The Quality Digest and the American Society of Quality for other help and guidance.

• Hire the right number of people. Piling work on a few employees will only reduce your company's QA abilities.
• Focus on the regulatory and accreditation basics. Work on streamlining and improving operations once you have the initial QA system under control.
• Use consultants and part-time external help when possible.