RAAF systematizes processes using Quality Workbench

Like many other large organizations throughout the world, the Royal Australian Air Force and its Joint Purchasing Support Agency (JPSA) are made up of a great variety and number of procedures and processes. To manage these procedures, the RAAF uses PQ Systems' Quality Workbench throughout its purchasing and contracting operations.

Quality Workbench connects to all elements of quality system

Reg Richardson, leader of quality systems support for JPSA, says that the agency chose Quality Workbench after careful analysis of its capabilities. They found it to be flexible and easy to use. "We like it for its connectivity to all elements of the quality system," he adds, pointing out that all quality systems in the agency now go through Quality Workbench.

Key to the success of the purchasing support agency's effort is a clear emphasis on methodology. Another key factor is empowerment of those who write procedures at every level. Communication has been critical to successful implementation in the organization, as well as a systematic approach to the process of developing and maintaining procedures and documents. Confidence in the system builds through a sense of ownership of the processes and communication with the sponsor.

Electronic system is based on sound manual quality system

The biggest challenge to developing clearly written procedures is a cultural one. "It's hard to get people to write down what they do," Reg Richardson says. To support them as they develop these procedures, a methodology is provided that gives a clear template for the documentation, accompanied by flow charts and other visual tools. Directions for writing procedures are clear and direct.

Understanding the connectivity of the entire system is also critical to the success of the agency's quality system. Mindmapping tools (also known as spider diagrams) demonstrate at a glance the ways in which procedures relate to other procedures in the organization. In the same way, a spider diagram illustrates the interactions among various applications and tools that are used throughout the system. Hypertext linking is used extensively among procedures, in order to provide extended references and associated information.

Because the electronic system now in place is based on the sound manual quality system that had been used previously, those in the organization are familiar with a variety of tools that are employed in process development. Standard software packages that have been used include Microsoft Word and Flowcharter. Using these programs has made the transition to Quality Workbench much smoother, since Quality Workbench enables users to use the editors of their own choice.

Modular system is connected to the whole

In the same methodical way that the quality system has been implemented from the beginning, continued expansion is being pursued. About 80 procedures are currently completed, with about half that number remaining to be incorporated or waiting to be amended.

With several sections of the agency involved in the process, the system has been designed in modular format. Procedures for each section are found in a module that is separate from those of other sections, and yet connected to the whole. If a section were moved from the aegis of the support agency to some other unit, its procedure could be easily disconnected electronically and transported to the new venue. In the same way, all procedures have been documented in such a way that if a crisis necessitating rapid expansion-such as military action-were to occur, the system could respond to this demand in an orderly, predictable way.

Quality Workbench helps bring clarity and order to bureaucratic system

The RAAF's purchasing support processes are sophisticated and complex. The system reflects large-scale operations and depends on multiple decision makers. By establishing clear methodology and using Quality Workbench, however, the agency has brought clarity and order to what could have been an inefficient and bureaucratic system. In its move toward a paperless approach, the purchasing support agency is not only reducing duplication, but also confusion and waste: an appropriate goal for any organization.