Lip service is not enough

Electronic quality management is often sold as a panacea against the quality manager blues. Motto: Buy product XY, and everything will be very easy very quickly. Is this true? No. It is true that a digital assistant creates a lot of time after solid data feeding. It is true that the quality of your processes increases continuously thanks to electronic management. Untrue is that you then have nothing more to do. False is that the process will be completed forever at some point. And a pure illusion is the idea of measuring and monitoring quality if your superiors do not follow suit.

Want, support, promote, pull along
So how do you implement electronic quality management in a company that has never worked with such an assistant? Quality manager Nick Strub is convinced: "The management must want it, support it, encourage it, and go along with it. And this is precisely the case at Barcol-Air in Schwerzenbach, where Nick Strub took on the task of completely rebuilding the existing quality processes in December 2015.

As a pioneer in the field of air-conditioned ceiling systems, Barcol-Air Group AG has been developing, producing and selling innovative top air-conditioning systems in Europe and the USA for over 35 years. High quality standards are therefore part of the corporate culture anyway. But, according to Nick Strub: "Documents were produced and there were process descriptions. That was good, but unstructured. People got lost in the details."

The old not so good song
What Strub describes still applies to many SMEs: they produce the best Swiss quality. But the processes for monitoring these services are cumbersome and not exactly traceable. Five-day audits are not uncommon in such companies, and mistakes are hardly avoidable. Nick Strub: "You can make mistakes, but not always the same ones. That's why I asked Barcol-Air to launch the 'Active Quality Management' project digitally when I started. This was approved."

Everything new with IQSoft
Strub chose the IQSoft quality management software from IQS AG in Zofingen for Barcol-Air. The goal: certification according to ISO 9001:2015 by the end of 2016: "It was a great opportunity to be able to build everything from scratch. I required comprehensive document management including precise control, a reporting system and a clear process map. I evaluated other options, but didn't find what I was looking for."

From initial views to three core processes
Spring 2016: Nick Strub looked at "what was there" at Barcol-Air. He spoke with the department heads of his employer and created a process folder: "I wanted an integrated system that not only adequately represented existing standards such as ISO 9001 or 14001, but also brand-new standards such as ISO 45001".

Ultimately, he defined three core processes for Barcol-Air's quality management (Figure 1). The scope of the management system extends to the development, design, manufacture, delivery and installation of complete ceiling and wall systems at several locations.

The certification? The well-deserved reward after intensive preparatory work
A short time later, IQSoft was installed at Barcol-Air. All documentation was recorded and linked. Some program modules were customized for Barcol-Air in cooperation with IQS AG, just as Nick Strub wanted: "An intensive time! IQSoft then went 'live' in March 2016. And it soon paid off that we had prepared ourselves comprehensively for this important step: Barcol-Air was already certified according to ISO 9001:2015 in November."

The Continuous Improvement Process (CIP)
Nick Strub likes the way IQSoft handles messages in the CIP: "We already had the message types - for example 'production delay' - before. I didn't have to reinvent anything. IQSoft now provides clear structure and guidance. It shows me what needs to be done in sequence - immediately and later. And because this triggering of actions is systematic, it's easy to explain. Our team understands that this continuous improvement process really works."

Up to date month after month
In addition to the annual management review, Barcol-Air also relies on monthly coordination meetings: Quality concerns are always discussed first. The evaluation is carried out via IQSoft: "This way there are no surprises. We evaluate ourselves in relation to the entire relationship environment (Figure 2) and know exactly where we stand in terms of quality at all times.

Plan, execute, review, act:Achievements and aspirations
A few months after the introduction of his electronic assistant and the successful ISO certification, Nick Strub defines his next goals with IQSoft: On the subject of occupational safety, he has a concept that he would like to implement in 2017. Detailed recording and measurement of customer satisfaction will begin in July 2017: "We are currently mapping processes and can assign each document to all areas and standards. We are eliminating duplications. Ultimately, I want to document everything that is done in all areas. And do it uniformly."

All options open
Which IQSoft modules would you recommend to Barcol-Air along the way? Maybe BPM, a module for visual process modeling. Certainly an audit management. And in production, digital test and equipment management. Nick Strub is open to such steps: "There is no one at our company who is not involved in quality in some way. I'm glad that things are moving forward here. If I had to do it all over again, I would do it exactly the same way - and again with IQSoft. I'm very pleased."