sop_control_plan.html

What is a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP)?

An SOP is a written procedure specific to your business operation that describes the activities necessary to complete a specific task or set of related tasks. The standard can be based in accordance with industry regulations, Federal, State and Municipal laws, or even just your own standards for running your business.

Any document that is a “how to” falls into the broad category of a "procedure", For example: a step by step production line procedure used to make a specific product, a general procedure to train staff, employee intake and out-processing procedures, how to make a sandwich, or procedures for safeguarding staff and customers from COVID-19 infections.. .

An SOP, in fact, defines any expected practices for all businesses everywhere where quality standards of some sort are important and are expected to be adhered to.

SOPs play an important role in your small business. SOPs are policies, procedures and standards you need in the operations, marketing and administration disciplines within your business to ensure success. The benefits are pretty obvious::

• efficiencies, and therefore profitability
• consistency and reliability in production and service
• fewer errors in all areas
• a way to resolve conflicts between partners
• a healthy and safe environment
• protection of employers in areas of potential liability and personnel matters
• a roadmap for how to resolve issues - and the removal of emotion from
• troubleshooting - allowing needed focus on solving the problem
• a first line of defense in any inspection, whether it be by a regulatory body, a partner
   or potential partner, a client, or a firm conducting due diligence for a possible purchase
• value added to your business should you ever wish to sell it

An SOP is a "living document". It needs to be periodically reviewed for accuracy and relevance, otherwise all of the hard work invested in creating it and its resulting benefits have been lost

SOP Development

Developing an SOP is about systemizing all of your key processes and documenting them. Every business has a unique market, every entrepreneur has his/her own leadership style, and every industry has its own best practices. No two businesses will have an identical collection of SOPs.

The Down-side of SOPs

The biggest problem with all "living documents" is obvious: even when using a pre-formatted template they are labor intensive. What that boils down to is: no business might document all of its procedures. That means that you must keep to the critical few processes essential to running your business, including any that are mandatory under Federal, State, and Municipal laws.

Why is having a Control Plan Important?

A Control Plan is a method for documenting the functional elements of quality control that are to be implemented in order to assure that quality standards are met for a particular product or service. The intent of the control plan is to formalize and document the system of control that will be utilized. If your SOP does not include a control plan, you should augment it so that the process and the means for controlling it are in the same place.

The Control Plan Section should have, or refer back to the following SOP sections:

Measurements and Specifications: All processes have specific details and information on how a product is to be made or a, service should be performed, including the scope of work, the manufacturing, installation, or operation process, and the quality of standards associates with each. Measurements are how we determine whether those procedures and standards have been successfully met.

Inputs/Outputs: As discussed in the SIPOC page, an input-output model shows the relationship of what must go into a process or a related set of processes (inputs) produce a specific final item, good, or service (outputs). We deliver the output to some person or thing: the end-customer. It is important, too, to keep in mind that there are both external and internal customers, just as there are both external and internal inputs and outputs. When inputs enter a system or organization, some action or actions take place that changes them in some fashion. Even processes appear to be very simple and straightforward, it is not uncommon to find several layers of internal customers both receiving inputs, taking an action that creates output that is someone else's input.   Some examples of inputs include money, supplies, parts, knowledge, and labor.

Processes Involved: All of the processes and sub-processes that have been identified with the outputs we are trying to control.

Frequency of Reporting and Sampling Methodology: The frequency and method of sampling all of the various process inputs and outputs to check for quality; commonly referred to as "quality metrics".

Recording of Information: How and where quality metric data and information is to be recorded and stored, including backup and contingency planning.

Corrective Actions (Reaction Plan): A reaction plan or response plan specifies a course of action that is needed to be taken when process control parameters are trending or have gone out of control. It includes both immediate and long-term actions to restore a process performance to its desired level.

The Process Owner: The individual who is accountable for the performance of the process, and who manages the process on a daily basis.

Tips:

• Don't re-invent the wheel: pick a SOP template (see below) that generally fits your needs, and modify it
• Establish up-front a periodic review process, at least annually; MCL recommends a general Quality Management Review on a
   quarterly basis, unless experience tells you that the process is not likely to change that often.
• Develop procedures in the language, style and format that best fit the operational realities and needs of you business
• Write SOPs in clear, concise language so that processes and activities occur in the exact order that they are suppose to
• The SOPs detail should provide adequate information to keep performance consistent while keeping the procedures
   from becoming impractical. Don't over-think it. The perfect SOP is the least detail that meet your operational needs.
• Keep written SOPs on-site so that they can be used by supervisors and employees, even when they are stored electronically
• Drafts should be made and tested before an SOP is released for implementation
• The more decision makers, employees and complexity in the business, the more SOPs will be required

Resources:

Terri Levine: Why You Need Standard Operating Procedures
Tanya Smith (Small Business Systems): Create Standard Operating Procedures
Smartsheet.com: Free Standard Operating Procedures Templates
FreeTemplatedownloads.net: 37 Best Free Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) Templates