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Archive for March 31st, 2010

Identifying a sustainable system of packaging would greatly benefit us and the world we live in. Most of the time, our attitude on packaging is to unpack the package, and throw the box in the garbage heap. Usually, these packages are made of cardboards boxes. Or we may reuse it once or twice until it wears out and discarded in the trash. Our landfills get fuller and create environmental problems.

Yearly, 20 percent of families in the US move to another home and utilize cardboard boxes to pack their belongings. Cardboard boxes maybe biodegradable but aren’t sustainable. The garbage collected from cardboard boxes usually is huge. Aside from that, the manufacture of these cardboard boxes results from chopping trees. As we all know, trees clean the toxic air of the earth’s atmosphere of carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas that envelops the earth and cause global warming.

To prevent global warming, a much better way to move is to utilize reusable packaging materials. They can be used again and again. Packing Digest has termed this system of reusing plastic packages as an excellent option and a sustainable strategy in the packing industry. It had been also been considered as one of the best practices on sustainable packaging.

This method of utilizing reusable packing materials involves offering reusable plastic packages to clients. They pack their stuff, have it moved, unpack their stuff and return the plastic container to the moving company for another family to use.

Accordingly, Nefab and other packaging companies offering reusable plastic packaging summarize the advantages of reusable plastic containers. A strong sturdy plastic reusable package protects the furniture being moved, or delicate china and other breakables which aren’t possible using cardboard boxes. If you make use of cardboard boxes, it may make you wrap the delicate stuff in plastic bubble wrap, another disposable item wantonly discarded. Instead of wrapping delicate stuff in plastic bubble wrap and thrown when the moving is done, use paper. Paper may be disposable but has a lesser environmental impact than a plastic disposable item.

Additionally, reusable plastic packaging can carry furniture and heavy items. When moving such package, they can fit snugly inside trucks, saves space and protects your possessions.

Also, reusable plastic packaging containers can be fitted to provide grip handles for the safety of the workers. These features make the job safe for the workers and the contents of each reusable plastic package.

Clearly, reusable packaging materials eliminates trash. If you use a reusable and therefore a returnable sturdy plastic packaging, it can last a long time. If compared with a cardboard box, it maybe used twice or thrice and then thrown in the trash. Of course, a plastic reusable package container will wear out over time but until it has been used maybe a hundred times. Then again, it can be recycled to another plastic container. If thrown in the trash, it only occupies a little space as compared to regularly thrown disposable cardboard boxes.

Apparently, the greatest and most critical impact of utilizing reusable packing materials is on the environment. You save a lot of trees when you hire the services of a moving company that utilizes reusable packing materials.

There might be some disadvantages. If you figure out how much cost to initially buy plastic packaging in different sizes, the may be expensive. Or the inadequacy of storage space may be a problem for some companies with limited stacking space. The most significant disadvantage though is the cost of transportation when you have to return those plastic containers. Transportation would consume fuel. However, if your moving company makes use of bio-diesels, this would not be a problem environmentally.

If you analyze the pros and cons of reusable packing materials versus cardboard boxes, the positive still outweigh the negative. If you do move and choose a moving company employing reusable packing materials, you know you’ve done the right thing for the planet.

This article, written by Author Lillian M. Lauran, is published on behalf of NYC movers Serenity Movers. Pick insured and licensed family owned NY movers for your next move!

Small and medium size businesses with a single location that utilize ISO 9001 quality management system have developed solid models for the top level documentation. At the same time, information on quality manuals for multi-facility companies was not addressed in professional publications. This publication proposes a model of a quality manual for establishing the top-level documentation structure that allows a business with more than one site to use common ISO 9001 quality management system manual.

Working as a QMS Lead Auditor for numerous international ISO registrars, I assessed numerous big multi-facility organizations that had difficulties with synchronizing their home office ISO 9001 quality manuals with the corresponding documents controlled by their sites. Designing quality manuals for companies with multiple sites, organizations develop their sites’ quality manuals as copies of the corporate quality manual; other enterprises create facility-specific manuals that are totally autonomous and do not correlate with the corporate ISO 9001 manuals.

In the first case, when a site-specific quality manual is a copy of the corporate manual with modifications specific to a given site, mechanisms to keep these documents coordinated are rarely defined. Difficulties of keeping these documents in sync are due to the fact that corporate quality manuals are controlled by the home office, while local quality manuals are responsibility of site’s documentation control departments.

In the case of the second approach, when organizations allow their satellite locations to have their own quality manuals independent from the corporate manual, differences in quality manuals may create major disconnect of the corporate and local ISO 9001 quality manuals.

If an organization wishes to deliver a consistent message regarding its quality policies, the deficiencies of discussed methods become obvious.

One of our large customers demonstrated this point well. The corporate ISO 9001 quality manual addressed majority of the requirements of the standard and referenced appropriate regulations. At the same time, one of their US locations did not reference required ISO 13485 standard, Mexico facility missed a commitment to compliance with regulatory requirements, yet Costa Rica site failed to document their ISO 9001 quality policy all together!

As we can see, both approaches to creation of location’s ISO 9001 quality manuals as copies of the corporate manuals or independent manuals do not appear to be practical. Besides, if a company has already spent time on developing a quality manual, why should another employee in the same organization spent more time to create a similar or duplicate document?

Fortunately, there is a solution. Let’s review an example of ISO 9001 2008 quality manual model that references procedures. Our quality manual references supporting documents within the text of the manual. For example, element 4.2.1, Documentation requirements, general, may read: Your Company, Inc.’s QMS documentation includes: documented statements of the quality policy per the Quality Policy and quality objectives per the Key Indicator Matrix,

This model proved to be effective for a single-location company. This approach will also work for a multi-site business, but only for common documents that are used at all locations. For example, such procedures as Internal Audit, Management Review, Corrective and Preventive Action, and others may be the same for your all facilities and therefore be referenced in the quality manual as shown above.

While references to common procedures in an ISO 9001 quality manual are clear, we still have to address those documents that are specific to particular locations such as incoming inspection, org charts, product verification and others. When we wish to maintain just one quality manual, we need to reference in it supporting procedures for all sites which may easily clutter the manual. To solve this problem we will examine how a common quality manual can efficiently reference facility-specific procedures to address statements of the organization’s ISO 9001 quality manual.

A method identical to a single-site organization can be used when the number of facilities is relatively small, let’s say 2 – 3. For example, clause 5.2, Customer focus, of our ISO 9001 quality manual may state: Your Company, Inc’s Management Team ensures that customer requirements are determined and met with the objective of enhancing customer satisfaction per the Design Management Procedure, Contract Review Procedure HO and the Contract Review Procedure SP. This example references to the common Design Management Procedure and facility-specific Contract Review Procedure HO (Home Office) and Contract Review Procedures SP (St. Petersburg). This approach works well for a company with limited number of locations, but it becomes unworkable when the number of facilities grows.

If we need to work with a company that has significant number or offices and wishes to reference in the quality manual procedures controlled by its sites, we may take a different approach. For example, we can prepare a matrix to associate the corporate quality manual clauses with the site-specific procedures. We can name this tool Manual Reference Matrix and consider the following reference model:

Corporate ISO 9001 Quality Manual section

Manual Reference Matrix Table of Contents (ToC)

Site-specific Manual Reference Matrix

Location-specific procedure

Our Manual Reference Matrix ToC is simply a list of company’s locations or sites’ Manual Reference Matrixes, as shown in the illustration below:

Manual Reference Matrix Table of Contents

Main Office (Washington, DC USA)

Toronto (Canada)

Cleveland, OH (USA)

Buenos Aires, (Argentina)

Portland OR USA

etc,

Let’s see how this model works. We will document element 8.4, Analysis of data: Sunrise, LLP has established and maintains documented Management Review Procedure and site-specific data analysis procedures per the Manual Reference Matrix ToC to determine, collect and analyze appropriate data to determine the suitability and effectiveness of the Quality Management System to evaluate areas where continual improvements of the effectiveness of the ISO 9001 QMS can be made This element states that the company uses common Management Review Procedure and site-specific data analysis procedures. To locate a site-specific data analysis procedure, we simply need to consult the Manual Reference Matrix ToC.

Finding the location in the Matrix ToC and locating, let’s say, St. Petersburg’s Matrix, we will identify a site-specific Manual Reference Matrix. Locating a specific element in the location’s Manual Reference Matrix, we will find a particular, location-specific procedure title that addresses our clause.

Quality Manual Reference Matrix may be formatted as a three-column table with the Manual Clause in the first column, HO References in the second and Location References in the third column. For example, for the element 8.4, Data Analysis, the Los Angeles plant’s Matrix indicates that the manual references Data Analysis Procedure HO for the corporate office and Data Analysis Procedure LA for the Los Angeles plant.

If you are developing an ISO 9001 quality manual for a large corporation with multiple sites, check the links below for samples of Quality Manual Reference Matrix.

If you are developing an ISO 9001 Quality Manual for a company with multiple locations and wish to keep your documentation simple, check our Quality Assurance Manual Reference Matrix. If you have questions or need help with implementation of your Corporate Manual, check our Quality Management ISO 9001 consulting services and documentation sets.

A good question. Certainly the auto shipping industry has undergone massive expansion recently and offers the public many services to meet their needs. Some will still find that using their services is not worth either the trouble or the cost involved. This is a new industry and such thoughts are reasonable. You don’t want to take advantage of a service you might not really need.

In some cases, selling what you own and then buying a new product may be far better than hiring a shipping company. If you want to decide which is the better option for you, find out what price your car might fetch at the used-car market and how quickly you will be able to sell it off. It may be more economic in terms of prices, but not in terms of time.

You are caught in a double hassle: That of research the auto buying and selling industry and also of researching the companies that make up the auto shipping industry. In the latter case, you must find a dependable company that will deliver your car within a reasonable amount of time and without undue wear and tear. Keep in mind that delivery times are only estimates in the industry. If you must have a specific time of delivery of your car at its point of destination, this will cost you more in every case and some companies simply cannot guarantee exact delivery times.

Generally speaking, if your car is a basic clunker anyway and you have no love for it, sell it and buy a better one at your destination. But, suppose you won that brand new Corvette at a car show and would not dream of parting with it, you are better off with the shipping company. There are some shipping routes that are complex and may come with exorbitant costs, but most are not that complicated and can be accessed by a single carrier, making them less costly than buying that sexy Corvette at your new location.

So now you have chosen to ship your Lotus Elite. Be of utmost diligence in selecting the auto shipping company to do this service for you. You want a safe delivery of your car and within reason of the estimated delivery time quoted to you. Actually since you have opted for auto shipping, your best bet is to now choose a closed shipping or container shipping. This will be more expensive, but your precious car will be protected from harsh weather, flying road stuff, road dirt, vandalism and theft.

If the decision is to sell your car, you have to decide moreover on whether to sell it yourself or through a dealer. You will get more money for it if you sell it yourself, but it will cost you time and trouble. The car dealer will be faster and will handle everything for you. As a matter of fact this option is probably even easier than wheeling and dealing with an auto shipping broker.

To read more on Car Transport or Car Shipping please visit our car shipping blog.

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