8.5.1 Continual Improvement

Purpose

[enter-your-company-name-here] is committed to the continual improvement of its Quality Management System; this procedure indicates the various methods employed to achieve this.

Procedure

• [enter-your-company-name-here] has developed a Quality Management System (QMS) and has a stated commitment towards improving the effectiveness of the system.
• Top management has endorsed the organisation’s Quality Policy which, together with its stated quality objectives, contains support for the continual improvement of the QMS.
• [enter-your-company-name-here] conducts regular, planned internal audits of the QMS.  The results of these audits are reviewed at regular management meetings and the outcomes are used to assess the performance of the system.
• Whenever nonconformities or system failures are detected, changes to the QMS may be made as the result of corrective action to prevent a recurrence. Preventive action measures may result in changes to the QMS where these are deemed appropriate by top management. 
• Data from customer surveys, Corrective Action Required logs and other external and internal sources is used to assess the effectiveness of the QMS. Whenever trends are detected, these are investigated to determine whether there is a need for change to the QMS. Following a change to the QMS and when appropriate, further data is obtained to verify the validity of the change.
• [enter-your-company-name-here]’s top management has a stated commitment to regular management review of the QMS and its outcomes.