ISO 9001:2015 – Newsletter – Issue 98

Issue 98 – Why are you hanging on to that paper document?

ISO 9001:2015…

Why are you hanging on to that paper document?

I appreciate receiving emails with questions and/or comments from readers of this Newsletter… please continue to do so since it provides me with direction on where to aim the content of these publications.  In my last Newsletter (ISO 9001:2015 Newsletter Issue 97) we discussed the topic of  “How is your productivity when working from home?”, and now in this Newsletter we will discuss “Why are you hanging on to that paper document?”.

The ISO 9001:2015 Element numbering…

Element 4 – Context of the organization
Element 5 – Leadership
Element 6 – Planning
Element 7 – Support
Element 8 – Operation
Element 9 – Performance evaluation
Element 10 – Improvement

Why are you hanging on to that paper document?… A few months back I discussed taking advantage of the current business disruptions to accelerate your move towards having a paperless Quality management System (QMS).  I wanted to re-visit this topic because I continue to see a reluctance to convert the current paper documents into a digital format.  One of the reasons I’ve been told is that too many people would be affected which makes this task overwhelming.  My suggestion is to start small… taking one bite at a time

Start at the top of the QMS pyramid, with the Quality Policy.  Do you still post physical copies of this document throughout the facility?  Do you also keep a list of the physical locations where the Quality Policy is found?  Is there some reason or rule preventing you from placing the Quality Policy on your company computer system with the rest of your QMS documents?  Do you use information monitors in different areas of the company and could the Quality Policy be shown there?

Let’s now look at the next layer/level of the QMS pyramid… How do you distribute (or make available) your Quality Manual to any employee interested in reading it?  If it’s only available to people in hard copy format, why is that?  Why not locate the Quality Manual on your company computer system with the rest of your QMS documents?  You can now use the same logic for any QMS Procedures and/or Work Instructions and/or other “instructional” document needed by your QMS.  I can’t think of any reason why all of the documents in the top levels of your QMS pyramid can’t be all digital.

Notice that in the above paragraph I said the “top levels” of the QMS pyramid… that’s because the bottom layer, usually called “Records”, are a unique set of documents where you will often discover “paper” versions/formats.  For example, paper based forms, filled out by hand, are still a very popular method of collecting QMS records.  On a positive note, many employees now use company software/database systems to enter data while performing their jobs, which has eliminated a lot of previously used paper-based forms.  Also, let’s not forget that most blank forms are now printed from a computer system versus making copies of a controlled master copy of a form, like in years past.

Where to begin?… Perhaps one way to take another step towards being paperless is to begin scanning all of those forms that are now filling drawers in cabinets.  I can think of many positive outcomes from doing this, the first being you can now throw out those hard-copies and free up lots of filing cabinets, not to mention gaining valuable floor space in your office.  A second positive would be that these scanned records are now “searchable”… how much time would be saved from NOT having to flip through volumes of paper to find something?  A third benefit is that the location of a physical document would no longer be a constraint for any offsite employee, because they could now just go up into the Cloud and find what they needed.

There may be many other benefits besides the few I’ve listed here, including one that I should have mentioned at the beginning and that is when you scan the original hard-copy you have eliminated the risk of losing that information forever… fire and flood come immediately to mind… but also don’t forget about paperwork that gets lost or thrown out when people simply leave the company.

Ideally, instead of scanning a completed hard-copy form, it would make more sense to “digitally” type into the fields on the form using a tablet (or a mobile phone) and save that “scanning” step.  This is starting to happen in some industries but may be still a few years away from everyone using this approach.  However as a result of this “new normal” that businesses will be evolving into, there may be accelerated progress with new technologies being introduced to assist people in “form filling” that will be all digital and contact-less… don’t be surprised about how many things will change going forward.

Again don’t let this effort be overwhelming… just start by converting ONE paper form into a digital format and see how that goes… let employees get used to this new digital form and if all goes well, then convert another paper form… eventually you’ll realize that you’ve built up some momentum to get them all done.