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THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK
Rob LaPointe AIM TESTING LABORATORY
Rob LaPointe is a noted authority in materials and fastener technology. With extensive experience
in the management and science of materials testing laboratories combined with master’s degrees in
physics and education, he excels at bringing solutions to the client. Working specifically in the fastener
testing industry, he has developed expertise in mechanical, nondestructive, metallurgical and chemical
testing. With a background of 20 years in physics education, Rob is effective at communicating complex
ideas in a simple and understandable manner, communicating well with clients enabling them to make
informed decisions about their products and business. AIM is located at 1920 Cordell Court #101, El
Cajon, CA, 92020. Tel: 909-254-1278, email: sales@aimtestlab.com or online at www.aimtestlab.com
USING YOUR QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM AS A
TOOL FOR MINIMIZING YOUR COMPANY’S RISK
Risk is a four-letter word that many people want
to avoid. Avoidance, however, is like the proverbial
“head in the sand” and can lead to significant negative
external impact if something goes wrong and one is not
prepared for it. It can also lead to significant personal
or internal impact by developing a habit of poor decision
making that can cause you
or your company to miss
out on an opportunity. If
the odds of something bad
happening are low enough,
then closing our eyes and
ignoring the possibility of
disaster can bring us sense
of peace in the present.
But that peace may not
be as solid as we would like to believe and the odds of
something adverse happening may not be as low as we
guess them to be. A simple practice of risk assessment
can move us from the realm of beliefs and guesses to a
more certain platform that offers us a more predictable
perspective, allowing us to make more aggressive and
productive personal and business decisions.
Research tells us that we are a “feel-good” culture and
that avoiding bad news is a tendency we have that helps
us to maintain our positive view. This tendency to filter
potential negative news is called information avoidance.
The problem is that reality, beyond our closed eyes, is not
controlled by our positivity alone. Much of what happens
globally is outside of our control and much of what
happens locally is beyond our influence. So, if we can’t
really have significant control over what happens, our best
position is to correctly identify and compare the effect or
TECHNICAL ARTICLE
impact of possible outcomes to the probability of their
occurrence and make decisions based on that evaluation.
The good news here is that there is a more sensible way
to “feel good.” We can feel good by knowing that the
decisions we’re making or our involvement in business
deals have been examined and are most likely going
to have beneficial results.
Gaining this knowledge
is not only beneficial for
the resulting decisions but
making the risk assessment
process a standard part of
your business’ decisionmaking
process can have
a tremendous impact on
the culture of the company
and its profitability. Using a decision-making tool to
weigh the options in your favor is standard practice in risk
assessment. Table 1 shows an example of a comparison
tool to aid in the evaluation of probability of occurrence
compared to the effect of occurrence. This is a highly
functional tool that can be used quickly to access the risk
of a single decision or multiple components of a decision.
If you’re operating a business in a technical field like
fasteners, there’s a good chance that you have adopted
a Quality Management System (QMS). For some, your
QMS is a fully accredited and fundamental function of your
business. For others, your QMS may be a formal system
you follow without having accountability to any authorizing
organization. Still others may be operating without any
formalized QMS in place but have policies and procedures
that guide you in delivering a suitable and predictable
high-quality product to your customers.
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