Sunday, March 7, 2010

Manage Corrective Actions of PMC

During the analysis of a problem management tool I identified several actions that were open without a deadline and status record or with a deadline expired and without status record. Some actions were without a deadline because they depended on external agents to be resolved (customer, priority addressed by higher level) and others without updating the history and deadline because these didn't have modified status. The monitoring of these actions was performed through interviews. What is the impact of this condition on sub-practice 2.3-1 - Manage Corrective Action of PMC? Does this condition affect the reach of this practice? For me this condition characterizes a non-compliance. I would like to know your opinion.

The correct answer depends upon what you have written in your documented procedures for identifying issues and taking corrective actions. Do your processes and procedures allow you to to conduct verbal reviews of issues and take corrective actions? I do agree with you that you have identified some problems with your process and the proper completion of forms.

If you believe these are true non-conformances, but your documented processes allow this to happen, then it would be a good idea to modify your processes accordingly. Otherwise, you have identified a gap between the documented and practiced processes. These issues should have also been identified through the PPQC process and work product audits.

Also, since the sub-practices are an informative component, they provide additional material to help you understand the intent of the Specific Goals and Practices. There is no expectation that the sub-practices have to be implemented. Therefore, the situation you described really has no impact on PMC SP 2.3 Sub-practice 1.

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