8. Operation

• 8.1 Operation Planning & Control
• 8.2 Customer Requirements
• 8.3 Design & Development
• 8.4 Control of Suppliers & External Processes
• 8.5 Production & Service Provision
• 8.6 Release of Products & Services
• 8.7 Control of Non-Conformance Outputs
• Specification Requirements

8.1 Operation Planning & Control

Overview

In planning product realization, the Company will determine the following, as appropriate :-

1. quality plans in the form of Job Bags will be issued for every job detailing all aspects of the process;
2. ensure that all activities associated with Process Control are planned and carried out in such a way under controlled conditions;
3. documents and records of such processes will be kept for a period of two years;
4. show the current inspection and test status of all goods within the Company.

Operational Component Workflow

Definitions

Enquiry

An enquiry is an initial enquiry received by a customer, this is not a required step in the process flow but may be the first point of communication with a customer.  

• This is represented as a ticket within the helpdesk system.
• Enquiries have a unique tracking number known as a Ticket Number

Enquiry Contexts

Enquiries can be classified into the following contexts...

• Sales Enquiry
• Order Progress Enquiry
• Artwork Enquiry
• Complaint

Enquiry Statuses

Enquiries can either be open, awaiting customer response or closed.

Quote

A quote represents the customers requirements in context of our offerings.

• Quotes have a unique tracking number generated by the system

Quote Statuses

Quotes can have the following statuses

• Draft
• Sent
• Opened
• Active
• Active Sale
  
• Dead

Order

An order represents a confirmation of a quote or parts of a quotation or an order from a web source in which the customer has generated their own quote and then order.  As such this can represent the start of customer communication.

Project

A project represents a group of one or more Operational Instruction Sets known as Jobs and one or more Endpoints.

Project Statuses

A project can have one of the following statuses

• Awaiting Operations Acceptance
• Active
• Awaiting Endpoint Completion
• Awaiting Invoice
• Complete
• Cancelled

Stock Requisition

A Stock Requisition is required when a none stocked item is required for completion of a project

Purchase Order

A purchase order represents a stock/service order from a  supplier

Purchase Order's can have the following statuses...

• Draft
• Requisition
• Awaiting Supplier Confirmation
• Awaiting Delivery
• Awaiting Invoice
• Complete

Job

A Job is a production Instruction Set.  It lists the processes, their representative instructions and the order in which they should be completed.

A Job has the following statuses:

• Active Process....
• Active
• Inactive
• Complete

Artwork

An artwork represents a unique piece of artwork in the system it has the following variables

• Width
• Height
• Quantity
• Unique Fingerprint (generated by creating a unique hash of the document file, prevents collisions)

Endpoint

An endpoint represents the final stage of a Project, a Project can have many endpoints.

Endpoints can be of two types...

• Pick up
• Delivery

Dispatch Note

Represents a dispatch note which can either be a pick up note or a delivery note.

Courier Note

Delivery note type must have a Courier Note, this represents our Dispatch Note within a first or third party courier network.

Examples

Example Digital Project Bag

Example Job Sheet

Example Ticket/Enquiry

Example Quote (Backend)

Example Quote (Frontend)

8.2 Customer Requirements

Customer Determined Requirements

Upon receiving an enquiry or order the Customer Service staff will generate a Quotation, if the quote is beyond the scope of the standardised products in the system the CS staff will consult with the Sales Director who will determine the exact requirements from the customer to ensure that the Company can meet the requirements

If there is any ambiguity about either the quotation or order the issue will be resolved by the Sales Director or nominated person with customer before proceeding with the process.

Process Sources

Ticket Categorisation

Tickets can be categorised as...

• Sales Enquiry
• Artwork
• Order Tracking
• Compliant

Each ticket categorisation has it's own process channel.

Zammad Ticket System

Zammad Ticket Systems tracks

• Customer Details
• Interaction Dates 
• External Communication
• Internal Communication

Ticket system is reachable at https://cs.maticmedia.co.uk/ 

Artwork Processing

8.3 Design & Development

As no real original Design and Development occurs within the organisation there is currently no need for documented procedure pertaining to this section. Design for product is not original and are based on specific layouts determined by the customer. Any change to this situation in the future however will be reflected by a change in the Quality Manual.

8.4 Control of Suppliers & External Processes

Purchasing Process

• The Operations Director has the responsibility of assessing suppliers/sub-contractors who supply goods which are considered fundamental in maintaining quality within the Company
• Acceptability is based on the Company’s previous experience in dealing with suppliers/sub-contractors
• Where a firm wishes to be added to the list of approved suppliers/sub-contractors it will be the subject of an assessment carried out under the supervision of the Operations Director.
  • An auto block is added by the Matic Track to prevent any purchase order approval until a supplier has underwent review,
• Suppliers list is maintained automatically via the MaticTrack system.
  • After 3 months of inactivity a supplier is set to reapproval, when they are next used for a purchased order a person with suitable permissions will review the supplier to see if they can be reactivated.  This forces us to automatically maintain our suppliers list.
    • Current Authorised Reviewers
      • Managing Director
      • Operations Director
• All suppliers are detailed on the computer system under Suppliers, which is reviewed on an annual basis. 
  • Suppliers Dashboard :: Sales Management (maticmedia.co.uk)

Purchasing Information

• All orders are the subject of a Purchase Requisition and Purchase Order. Prior to despatch they are reviewed and authorised by one of the authorised purchasers, this is controlled by system privileges control.
• Purchase Order Forms are generated by the system and detail the Purchase Order Number, suppliers name and address, description of goods, quantity and unit price;
• The Purchase Order Number is allocated in numeric order by the computer system and each number is unique;
• Purchase orders are emailed to suppliers, orders can not be placed without an official purchase order.
• The description used in order documents or in verbal orders precisely specifies the materials, uses the customer’s description wherever possible and includes the following, where applicable;
  • the type, class, style, grade or other precise information;
  • the title or other possible identification including detailed reference to British Standards or International Standards, and applicable issue of specifications, drawings, process requirements, inspection instructions and other relevant technical data, including requirements for approval or qualification of product, procedures, process equipment and personnel;
  • the title, number and issue of the Quality System International Standard to be applied to the product;
  • specific identification or marking requirements of the goods to be supplied;
  • particular packaging or handling requirements;
  • the provision of all necessary test and/or goods certification as required.

Authorised Purchasers

Name	Amount
Richard McCombe	NA
Robert McCombe	NA
Adrian McCombe	£10,000
Andy Roddie	Requisitions Only
Kelly Power	£5,000
Jamie Mallon	Requisitions Only

Stock Management

Where possible stock items are listed on a controlled stock list that is kept up to date with current stock levels.  This allows control of stock quality and consistent throughput of jobs through the production process.

Location

https://1drv.ms/x/s!AgZhmG8o-MafgpI3vhiU0l8wECmm2A?e=GWipko 

Verification of Purchased Product

• SOURCE OF GOODS – invoices indicate which goods are from a source which holds third party certification;
• goods which are purchased from a supplier which holds third party certification are given a visual inspection before despatch to the supplier;
• no goods are despatched to the customer until the Goods Inwards Inspection procedure has been completed.

Purchasing Process

8.5 Production & Service Provision

Control of Production and Service Provision

Vector Graphic Version Click Here

MaticTrack

The MaticTrack is Matic Media Services Limited internal inhouse developed Enterprise Resource Management software.  It tracks all aspects of customer, order and production management. At last update it maintained...

• Customer Information
  • Company Details
  • Contact Details
•  Sales
  • QuickQuotes
  • Quotes
  • Carts
  • Orders
  • Payments
  • Artwork
  • Catalogue
  • Customer Price Lists
• Operations
  • Projects
  • Jobs
  • Endpoints
  • Dispatch
  • Stock
  • Job Planning
  • Plant & Building Maintenance
• Purchasing
  • Remittances
  • Purchase Orders
  • Suppliers
• Accounts
  • Invoicing
  • Credits
  • Journals
• Marketing
  • Marketing Lists
  • Third Party Systems Integration
• Graphic Warehouse Website
  • CMS
  • Ecommerce
  • Blog

Validation of Processes for Production and Service Provision

• Operators will carry out their duties as per the Job Pack which are issued by the Operations Manager.
• All operators sign the Job Pack on completion of their specific task before the job proceeds to the next part of the process.
• The operators signature signifies that in-process inspection has taken place.
• Maintenance records are updated at the required intervals to ensure that maintenance checks on plant equipment are being carried out.

Identification and Traceability

• All orders accepted by the Company are allocated a job number which is unique to that particular order.  This is made up of a prefix representing the order source and a unique tracking number ending with a version control number.
  • QUO:12345:01 
    • Source: Quote
    • Identification Number: Quote 12345
    • Version Number: 01
  • WEB:12345:01
    • Source: Web Order
    • Identification Number: Order 12345
    • Version Number: 01
• Redo of external non conformance numbers are tracked with a prefix of RED e.g.
  • RED:WEB:12345:01
• Invoices Identification is automatically assigned based on the order id e.g.
  • If order is WEB:12345, the invoice id will be WEB:12345
  • Duplicate invoices numbers are not allowed therefore duplicate invoicing is impossible
• A Project is allocated to each order with details which correspond to customer requirements.
  • A Project has many Jobs
  • A Project as many Endpoints
  • A Job has many Artworks
• A Job represents a list of production processes and the current production process that is active
• Each operator completes the Job process step on completion of his area of responsibility. 
  • This completion represents a quality control check. 
  • An operator cannot complete a process without having completed training in that process for QA
• Any product which is rejected, for any reason, will have a rejected self-adhesive sticker attached and placed in a quarantine area of the factory.
• All Job Bags are held digitally for a minimum of 2 years.
• The current test status and test and inspection results are detailed on the Job including final inspection, this is stored are logs digitally on MaticTrack.

Stock Control & Storage

• Stock is held and controlled as per supplier data sheets depending on the product.
• Stock is identified, where needed labelled and grouped as per its type.
• Stock is organised into three types

Type	Descriptor
In Use	Is currently in use, held in either lamination room or print room
Partial Use Stock / Offcuts	Is partially used and is held as stock held, held in Kanban System on Mezzanine or in sheet media racks in Stock Bay
Stockheld	Unopened roll stock held in Roll Media racks in Stock Bay

Stock Storage Zones

Stock Imagery

In Use Stock

Partial Use Stock / Offcuts

Stock Identification

Stockheld

8.6 Release of Products & Services

Endpoints - Deliveries and Pick up

Release of products and services Matic Media Services Limited only have two method of product release.  Deliveries and Pick ups.  Both are managed with the use of Project Endpoints. 

Endpoints

• A project endpoint represents the last stage of a Project.
• Each Project may have multiple endpoints
• An endpoint must be of the type;
  • Pickup - The customer is arranging collection
  • Delivery - The Company is arranging delivery
    • Delivery endpoints must have an address

Quality Control Aspects

Before any endpoint is completed the following quality control aspects are asked to be checked

• Package Dimensions
• Number of Packages
• Project Element Quantities
• Correct Artwork Packed
• Last Seen Quality Check
• Photographs if required have been taken

Endpoint Process

Dispatch Notes

Dispatch notes are a unique identifier that represents...

• The Project
• What was packaged
• The number of packages
• Courier Tracking Information
• Time packed

 

8.7 Control of Non-Conformance Outputs

Overview

• Any product which show a non-conformance are recorded & disposed off or set aside in a quarantine area to be recorded to ensure that they are not despatched to the customer
• All product or aspects of service such as delivery times or customer complaints which show a non-conformance are reviewed by the Operations Director
• Non-Conforming product may be:-
  • re-worked to meet the specified requirements, or
  • accepted with or without repair by concession, or
  • regarded for alternative applications, or
  • rejected or scrapped.
• Any product which is repaired or re-worked is inspected to check that they meet the specification and the findings are recorded.
• Where it is proposed that non-conforming product or aspects of the service are to be accepted by the customer by concession then this is discussed with the customer and details are recorded.
• If, after delivery to the customer, it is discovered that non-conforming product has been supplied then the customer is advised accordingly
• Any product which has been rejected or returned is held in a quarantine area for possible re-work or re-use. Any material which cannot be re-worked is scrapped.

Recording Procedure

When a non-conformance occurs the issue should be tracked on the MaticTrack internal ERP system

If it is not possible to record non-conformance at that time it should be stored in a Quarantine Bin or marked with a Rejected sticker.

Logging Non-Conformance in MaticTrack

1. Go to Project
2. Click Record Non-Conformance
3. Select the Job
4. Select the Artwork/Dimensions
5. Select the reasons for Non-Conformance
6. If Available add pictures of Non-Conformance
7. Dispose of Non-conformance in bin

Examples in Practice

Quarantine Bin Examples

Specification Requirements

8 Operation

8.1 Operational planning and control

The organization shall plan, implement and control the processes (see 4.4) needed to meet the requirements for the provision of products and services, and to implement the actions determined in Clause 6, by:

• a) determining the requirements for the products and services;
• b) establishing criteria for:
  • 1) the processes;
  • 2) the acceptance of products and services;
• c) determining the resources needed to achieve conformity to the product and service requirements
• d) implementing control of the processes in accordance with the criteria;
• e) determining, maintaining and retaining documented information to the extent necessary:
  • 1) to have confidence that the processes have been carried out as planned;
  • 2) to demonstrate the conformity of products and services to their requirements.

The output of this planning shall be suitable for the organization’s operations.

The organization shall control planned changes and review the consequences of unintended changes, 
taking action to mitigate any adverse effects, as necessary.

The organization shall ensure that outsourced processes are controlled (see 8.4).

8.2 Requirements for products and services

8.2.1 Customer communication

Communication with customers shall include:

• a) providing information relating to products and services;
• b) handling enquiries, contracts or orders, including changes;
• c) obtaining customer feedback relating to products and services, including customer complaints;
• d) handling or controlling customer property;
• e) establishing specific requirements for contingency actions, when relevant.

8.2.2 Determining the requirements for products and services

When determining the requirements for the products and services to be offered to customers, the 
organization shall ensure that:

• a) the requirements for the products and services are defined, including:
  • 1) any applicable statutory and regulatory requirements;
  • 2) those considered necessary by the organization;
• b) the organization can meet the claims for the products and services it offers.

8.2.3 Review of the requirements for products and services

8.2.3.1 The organization shall ensure that it has the ability to meet the requirements for products and 
services to be offered to customers. The organization shall conduct a review before committing to supply 
products and services to a customer, to include:

• a) requirements specified by the customer, including the requirements for delivery and post delivery activities;
• b) requirements not stated by the customer, but necessary for the specified or intended use, when 
  known;
• c) requirements specified by the organization;
• d) statutory and regulatory requirements applicable to the products and services;
• e) contract or order requirements differing from those previously expressed.

The organization shall ensure that contract or order requirements differing from those previously 
defined are resolved.

The customer’s requirements shall be confirmed by the organization before acceptance, when the 
customer does not provide a documented statement of their requirements

NOTE In some situations, such as internet sales, a formal review is impractical for each order. Instead, the 
review can cover relevant product information, such as catalogues.

8.2.3.2 The organization shall retain documented information, as applicable:

• a) on the results of the review;
• b) on any new requirements for the products and services

8.3 Design and development of products and services

8.3.1 General

The organization shall establish, implement and maintain a design and development process that is 
appropriate to ensure the subsequent provision of products and services.

8.3.2 Design and development planning

In determining the stages and controls for design and development, the organization shall consider:

• a) the nature, duration and complexity of the design and development activities;
• b) the required process stages, including applicable design and development reviews;
• c) the required design and development verification and validation activities;
• d) the responsibilities and authorities involved in the design and development process;
• e) the internal and external resource needs for the design and development of products and services;
• f) the need to control interfaces between persons involved in the design and development process;
• g) the need for involvement of customers and users in the design and development process;
• h) the requirements for subsequent provision of products and services;
• i) the level of control expected for the design and development process by customers and other relevant interested parties;
• j) the documented information needed to demonstrate that design and development requirements 
  have been met.

8.3.3 Design and development inputs

The organization shall determine the requirements essential for the specific types of products and 
services to be designed and developed. The organization shall consider:

• a) functional and performance requirements;
• b) information derived from previous similar design and development activities;
• c) statutory and regulatory requirements;
• d) standards or codes of practice that the organization has committed to implement;
• e) potential consequences of failure due to the nature of the products and services.

Inputs shall be adequate for design and development purposes, complete and unambiguous.

Conflicting design and development inputs shall be resolved.

The organization shall retain documented information on design and development inputs.

8.3.4 Design and development controls

The organization shall apply controls to the design and development process to ensure that:

• a) the results to be achieved are defined;
• b) reviews are conducted to evaluate the ability of the results of design and development to meet requirements;
• c) verification activities are conducted to ensure that the design and development outputs meet the input requirements;
• d) validation activities are conducted to ensure that the resulting products and services meet the requirements for the specified application or intended use;
• e) any necessary actions are taken on problems determined during the reviews, or verification and validation activities;
• f) documented information of these activities is retained.

NOTE Design and development reviews, verification and validation have distinct purposes. They can be 
conducted separately or in any combination, as is suitable for the products and services of the organization

8.3.5 Design and development outputs

The organization shall ensure that design and development outputs:

• a) meet the input requirements;
• b) are adequate for the subsequent processes for the provision of products and services;
• c) include or reference monitoring and measuring requirements, as appropriate, and acceptance criteria;
• d) specify the characteristics of the products and services that are essential for their intended purpose and their safe and proper provision.
• The organization shall retain documented information on design and development outputs.

8.3.6 Design and development changes

The organization shall identify, review and control changes made during, or subsequent to, the design 
and development of products and services, to the extent necessary to ensure that there is no adverse 
impact on conformity to requirements.

The organization shall retain documented information on:

• a) design and development changes;
• b) the results of reviews
• c) the authorization of the changes;
• d) the actions taken to prevent adverse impacts.

8.4     Control of externally provided processes, products and services

8.4.1 General

The organization shall ensure that externally provided processes, products and services conform to 
requirements.

The organization shall determine the controls to be applied to externally provided processes, products 
and services when:

• a) products and services from external providers are intended for incorporation into the organization’s own products and services;
• b) products and services are provided directly to the customer(s) by external providers on behalf of the organization;
• c) a process, or part of a process, is provided by an external provider as a result of a decision by the organization.

The organization shall determine and apply criteria for the evaluation, selection, monitoring of performance, and re-evaluation of external providers, based on their ability to provide processes or products and services in accordance with requirements. The organization shall retain documented information of these activities and any necessary actions arising from the evaluations

8.4.2 Type and extent of control

The organization shall ensure that externally provided processes, products and services do not 
adversely affect the organization’s ability to consistently deliver conforming products and services to 
its customers.

The organization shall:

• a) ensure that externally provided processes remain within the control of its quality management system;
• b) define both the controls that it intends to apply to an external provider and those it intends to apply 
  to the resulting output;
• c) take into consideration:
  • 1) the potential impact of the externally provided processes, products and services on the 
    organization’s ability to consistently meet customer and applicable statutory and regulatory 
    requirements;
  • 2) the effectiveness of the controls applied by the external provider
• d) determine the verification, or other activities, necessary to ensure that the externally provided processes, products and services meet requirements

8.4.3 Information for external providers

The organization shall ensure the adequacy of requirements prior to their communication to the 
external provider.

The organization shall communicate to external providers its requirements for:

• a) the processes, products and services to be provided;
• b) the approval of:
  • 1) products and services;
  • 2) methods, processes and equipment;
  • 3) the release of products and services;
• c) competence, including any required qualification of persons;
• d) the external providers’ interactions with the organization;
• e) control and monitoring of the external providers’ performance to be applied by the organization;
• f) verification or validation activities that the organization, or its customer, intends to perform at the external providers’ premises.

8.5 Production and service provision

8.5.1 Control of production and service provision

The organization shall implement production and service provision under controlled conditions.
Controlled conditions shall include, as applicable:

• a) the availability of documented information that defines:
  • 1) the characteristics of the products to be produced, the services to be provided, or the activities 
    to be performed;
  • 2) the results to be achieved;
• b) the availability and use of suitable monitoring and measuring resources;
• c) the implementation of monitoring and measurement activities at appropriate stages to verify that 
  criteria for control of processes or outputs, and acceptance criteria for products and services, 
  have been met;
• d) the use of suitable infrastructure and environment for the operation of processes;
• e) the appointment of competent persons, including any required qualification;
• f) the validation, and periodic revalidation, of the ability to achieve planned results of the processes for production and service provision, where the resulting output cannot be verified by subsequent monitoring or measurement;
• g) the implementation of actions to prevent human error;
• h) the implementation of release, delivery and post-delivery activities.

8.5.2     Identification and traceability

The organization shall use suitable means to identify outputs when it is necessary to ensure the conformity of products and services.

The organization shall identify the status of outputs with respect to monitoring and measurement requirements throughout production and service provision.

The organization shall control the unique identification of the outputs when traceability is a requirement, and shall retain the documented information necessary to enable traceability.

8.5.3 Property belonging to customers or external providers

The organization shall exercise care with property belonging to customers or external providers while it is under the organization’s control or being used by the organization.

The organization shall identify, verify, protect and safeguard customers’ or external providers’ property provided for use or incorporation into the products and services.

When the property of a customer or external provider is lost, damaged or otherwise found to be unsuitable for use, the organization shall report this to the customer or external provider and retain documented information on what has occurred.

NOTE A customer’s or external provider’s property can include materials, components, tools and equipment, 
premises, intellectual property and personal data.

8.5.4 Preservation

The organization shall preserve the outputs during production and service provision, to the extent 
necessary to ensure conformity to requirements.

NOTE Preservation can include identification, handling, contamination control, packaging, storage, transmission or transportation, and protection.

8.5.5 Post-delivery activities

The organization shall meet requirements for post-delivery activities associated with the products and services. In determining the extent of post-delivery activities that are required, the organization shall consider:

• a) statutory and regulatory requirements;
• b) the potential undesired consequences associated with its products and services;
• c) the nature, use and intended lifetime of its products and services;
• d) customer requirements;
• e) customer feedback.

NOTE Post-delivery activities can include actions under warranty provisions, contractual obligations such 
as maintenance services, and supplementary services such as recycling or final disposal

8.5.6 Control of changes

The organization shall review and control changes for production or service provision, to the extent 
necessary to ensure continuing conformity with requirements.

The organization shall retain documented information describing the results of the review of changes, 
the person(s) authorizing the change, and any necessary actions arising from the review.

8.6 Release of products and services

The organization shall implement planned arrangements, at appropriate stages, to verify that the product and service requirements have been met.

The release of products and services to the customer shall not proceed until the planned arrangements have been satisfactorily completed, unless otherwise approved by a relevant authority and, as applicable, by the customer

The organization shall retain documented information on the release of products and services. The 
documented information shall include:

• a) evidence of conformity with the acceptance criteria;
• b) traceability to the person(s) authorizing the release.

8.7 Control of nonconforming outputs

8.7.1 The organization shall ensure that outputs that do not conform to their requirements are identified and controlled to prevent their unintended use or delivery.

The organization shall take appropriate action based on the nature of the nonconformity and its effect on the conformity of products and services. This shall also apply to nonconforming products and services detected after delivery of products, during or after the provision of services.

The organization shall deal with nonconforming outputs in one or more of the following ways:

• a) correction;
• b) segregation, containment, return or suspension of provision of products and services;
• c) informing the customer;
• d) obtaining authorization for acceptance under concession.
• Conformity to the requirements shall be verified when nonconforming outputs are corrected.

8.7.2 The organization shall retain documented information that:

• a) describes the nonconformity;
• b) describes the actions taken;
• c) describes any concessions obtained;
• d) identifies the authority deciding the action in respect of the nonconformity