Procedures
In its simplest form a procedure can
be a sequence of steps that include preparation, conduct and completion of a
task. Each step can be a sequence of activities and each activity a sequence of
actions. Work instructions can be procedures if they prescribe a sequence of
activities that are to be performed to complete a task and this is the crucial
difference. The only objective a procedure achieves is to effectively convey the
requirements for executing a task. On its own a procedure cannot execute the
task so that it achieves an objective - this is the role of the process.
Processes
Processes produce results. They often (but not always) create a change of state. They
can take
inputs (e.g. material, information) and pass these through a sequence of
stages during which the inputs are transformed or their status changed to emerge
as an output with different characteristics. Hence processes act upon inputs and
are dormant until the input is received. At each stage the transformation tasks
may be procedural, but may also be mechanical, chemical etc. Inherent processes
do not normally recognize departmental or functional boundaries (but are often
hindered by them) nor the boundaries between customers and suppliers. Each
process has an objective with both quantitative and qualitative measures of its
outputs directly related to its objectives. The transformation or process stages
are designed to ensure the combination of resources achieves the objectives -
the desired outputs. Of course this means that the process has to receive the
right inputs to deliver the desired outputs and that the correct resources are
applied at the right stages, in the correct quantities and in the right manner
It is true that a process can be illustrated as a sequence of steps just as a
procedure is illustrated, but the similarity ends there.
It's the way we use them
The way we use the words procedure and
process tells us something about how they differ. We tend to start and stop processes. We implement procedures and commence and complete them. We process
information. We do not procedure information but we may employ a procedure to process information. We have plating processes and there may be
plating procedures. In this context, the plating process comprises the resources, people, plant and machinery, and the plating procedure contains the
instructions on how to plate material.
We have process interrupt but not procedure interrupt, because processes are
perceived as continuous and run until physical intervention. In our bodies we have processes, not procedures. The reproductive process, the digestive
process, the respiratory process, these processes are certainly continuous and stop only when an intervention takes place. They may require human
intervention in which a surgeon may employ procedures to effect a repair. Procedures on the other hand are perceived as being discontinuous, having
steps which can be paused with activities or actions picked up or put down at will.
Procedures usually relate to groups of activities
with a given output where that output may not be complete until acted upon by someone else at a later stage in the process. Therefore, procedures are the
actions taken by individuals in a process that may span across several functions and use multiple resources to deliver a predetermined output at a
given rate at a given location on a given date.
For more information see
ISO 9000 Quality systems Handbook
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