The Compliance Challenge
For a Civil Engineering Laboratory, accreditation is survival. Under ISO 17025, labs must demonstrate competence in testing (e.g., concrete cube crushing strength) and calibration.
The Audit Gap: The standard explicitly requires a formal process for handling customer complaints and feedback. Most labs fail here, relying on ad-hoc emails that get lost before an audit.
The Solution: We engineered a "Feedback Interceptor"—a digital Quality Management System (QMS) that gathers audit-ready data and triggers immediate corrective action (CAPA) for bad reviews.
The PDCA Cycle Implementation
1. Plan (The Standard)
Objective: Align Feedback Collection with ISO 17025.
The plan was to create a digital "listening post" that integrates with the lab's reporting cycle. We defined the criteria for a "Non-Conformance" (e.g., late results, incorrect calibration certificates) and designed the workflow to capture this data automatically.
2. Do (The Interceptor)
Upon issuing a Concrete Cube Test Report, the system triggers a feedback request. This is not just a survey; it is a Digital Audit Trail.
Figure 1: The testing environment where compliance is critical.
3. Check (The Logic Gate)
Innovation: Real-time Filtering.
The system acts as a firewall for the lab's reputation and accreditation status. It "Checks" the incoming data against the Quality Threshold:
- Compliance Check: Is the client satisfied with the testing accuracy?
- Service Check: Were the results delivered on time?
4. Act (Corrective Action)
The system automates the Corrective Action Preventative Action (CAPA) workflow, splitting feedback into two streams:
Action: Routed instantly to the Quality Manager.
Outcome: Immediate root cause analysis.
Action: Logged as "Evidence of Customer Satisfaction".
Outcome: Verified compliance for SANAS audit.
Is Your Lab Audit-Ready?
We build automated Quality Management Systems that ensure ISO 17025 compliance while protecting your reputation.
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