Need a Plan

You already know a great deal about studying. You couldn t have gotten this far—to the doorstep of graduate school—without effective study skills. The following pages will help you fine-tune your study methods so you can make efficient use of your time. 

The key to success in this endeavor, as in so many, is to take things one step at a time. Break this giant task down into manageable pieces. Your first step in successful studying is to think about your study plan. 

Once you are aware of what you know and what you still need to work on, you can effectively prioritize whatever study time you have available. Remember, no matter how you scored, no matter what areas you need to work on, you will get better with practice. The more you study and the more effectively you work, the better you will score on the actual exam. 

One way you can help yourself stay motivated is by setting up a system of rewards. Write down a list of things you enjoy they will be your rewards. For example, if you keep your commitment to study for an hour in the evening, you get to watch your favorite television show. If you stay on track all week, you can indulge in a Sunday afternoon banana split. Only you know what will keep you on task. 

Another way to make your study time more effective is to think about how you learn best. Everyone has certain modes that he or she employs to make it easy to learn and remember information. Is your mode visual, auditory, kinesthetic, or a combination of two or all three Here are some questions to help you determine your dominant learning style(s). 

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When carrying out subcontractor surveillance you will need a plan which indicates what you intend to do and when you intend to do it. You will also need to agree the plan with your subcontractor. If you intend witnessing certain tests, the subcontractor will need to give you advanced warning of its commencement so that you may attend (see also later in this chapter under Supplier verification at subcontractor s premises.)... 

Business Week. 1992. Industrial policy call it what you will, the nation needs a plan to nurture growth. Business Week, 6 (April) 70-104. 

What the ladder really represents psychologically is that we need a plan. Any time you have a goal, if you get a plan, you re on your way. Half the people out there do not even have a goal and most of the other half don t have a plan to get there. 

Go through your research notes and sort the information. Based on the information you have collected, write a tentative thesis statement of what you want to say in your research paper. (Lesson 4 gives more guidance on how to write a tentative thesis statement.) From here, you can outline your paper. Even if you don t make a formal outline, you ll need a plan for what you will write in your paper and where different pieces of your research will be used in your paper. 

Finally, you need a plan for implementing these changes in all parts of your operation that are affected. In some companies the process for learning about changes and expected changes is there, but then there is no established communication network for informing other areas of your department or the company... 

As a safety professional, you need to be concerned about injuries, and to keep them in check you need a plan of attack. At a minimum, you should adopt a comprehensive injury prevention program, our focus in the pages that follow. 

In the event of a fire emergency, all employees need to know what to do they need a plan to follow. The fire emergency plan normally is the protocol to follow for fire emergency response and evacuation. Typically, the facility safety official is charged with developing fire prevention and emergency... 

The nature of the S OP means that it needs a planning horizon that stretches well beyond the MPS (master production scheduling), usually between 18 months... 

Every team needs a plan, and the most common planning technique is the Gantt chart. The lively and short article by Jeff Dewar [ ] demonstrates the technique and shows why it is so powerful. It is all the reference needed to develop and use Gantt charts. 

Roberts Middle School We need a plan for students who are dropped off early by working parents. We have at least 40 kids each morning before school opens. 

We have all used maps to orientate ourselves in an area on land. Likewise, a reservoir map will allow us to find our way through an oil or gas field if, for example we need to plan a well trajectory or If we want to see where the best reservoir sands are located. However, maps will only describe the surface of an area. To get the third dimension we need a section which cuts through the surface. This is the function of a cross section. Figure. 5.44 shows a reservoir map and the corresponding cross section. 

A researcher formulating a strategy for a particular company must determine what portion of the planned output will be sold by its sales force and whether distributors or manufacturers representatives might be beneficial. If it appears that a distributor or agent is needed, a separate evaluation of the capabihties of representative companies or individuals should be made. 

A better understanding of potential lAQ problems is needed in order to develop a plan for corrective action It may be necessary to collect more detailed information and/or to expand the scope of the investigation to include building areas that were previously overlooked. Outside assistance may be needed. 

The HASP is the model for performing work safely and, if properly designed, will help to integrate all site- and task-related hazards and control measures. Wlien working with the DOE or the Corps of Engineers there may be additional documents that should be considered when developing a plan. Make sure that you understand all site-specific needs. 

A plan is more than a list of goals, a bar chart, or a schedule of activities. For the business plan to be effective it needs to define how the measures it covers are to be achieved and the resources to achieve them obtained. There may well be supplementary plans for this purpose. The plan or plans also need to define who is to be responsible for achieving the goals and implementing the plans. Once this is done and the provisions communicated to those affected, a method of tracking achievement can be put in place. To track performance effectively the implementation of the plan needs to be phased such that target dates are set for the determination and acquisition of resources, the issue of detail implementation plans, the organization of work, and the completion of individual tasks. 

In addition you will need a process development plan in which you define who does what, when, and how for each new process from conception through to process approval. 

It is important that you inform the subcontractor through the contract of how the product or service will be accepted. Will it be as a result of receipt inspection at the specified destination or as a result of acceptance tests witnessed on site by your authorized representative These details need to be specified at the tendering stage so that the subcontractor can make provision in the quotation to support any of your activities on site. If you have invoked ISO 9001 in the subcontract, you are protected by clause 4.6.4.2. If you have not, you need to specify a similar provision in your subcontract, otherwise you may lose the right to reject the product later. There is no requirement for you to document your proposal to verify product at the subcontractor s premises but such a plan would indeed be a useful section in any quality plan that you produced. (See also Control of subcontractors in this chapter.)... 

For installation operations you will need an installation requirement and an installation plan. Similarly for any other process which represents the core for your business, you will need a requirement and a plan to achieve the requirement. The plan should detail the processes you need to implement in order to achieve the requirement. 

Any operation that relies on skills doesn t need a procedure. However, the operator will not be clairvoyant - you may need to provide procedures for straightforward tasks to convey special safety, handling, packaging, and recording requirements. You need to ensure that you don t make your processes so complex that bottlenecks arise when the slightest variation to plan occurs. The setting up of equipment, other than equipment typical of the industry, should be specified to ensure consistent results (see later in this chapter under Verification of job set-ups). In fact any operation that requires tasks to be... 

The standard provides a choice as to whether you define the inspections and tests required in a quality plan or in documented procedures. You may of course need to do both. As the quality system is often designed to accommodate all products and services you supply, it may not specify inspections and tests which are needed for particular products. This is one of the roles of the quality plan. Within such a plan you should identify the verification stages during product development, production, installation, and servicing as applicable. These stages will vary depending on the product, so your quality plan will be product, contract, or project specific (see Part 2 Chapter 2). There may... 

The second part of the requirement deals with inspection and test records, which are also covered in clause 4.10.5. The difference between these requirements is that clause 4.10.1 requires you to document the records to be established (in other words define ) in the quality plan or procedures and clause 4.10.5 requires you to produce the records defined in the quality plan or procedures. Your inspection and test procedures therefore need to specify or contain the forms on which you intend to record the results of the inspections and tests performed. The details are covered later in this chapter, but there are two types of record to be considered the record that shows which inspections and tests have been performed and the record that shows the results of these inspections and tests. One may be a route card, shop traveler, or document which acts as both a plan of what to do and a record of the progress made and the other may be a table of results with specified parameters and accept/reject criteria. 

In continuous production, product is inspected by taking samples from the line which are then examined while the line continues producing product. In such cases you will need a means of holding product produced between sampling points until the results of the tests and inspections are available. You will also need a means of releasing product when the results indicate that the product is acceptable. So a Product Release Procedure or Held Product Procedure may be necessary. The standard implies, however, that if you have released product under positive recall procedures you do not need to hold product while in-process inspection and tests are performed. The reference to clause 4.10.3(a) is also ambiguous because the inspections and tests carried out in accordance with the quality plan or documented procedures may not cover those necessary to verify product on receipt into the plant. It would be wise to hold any product until you have... 

The nonconformity data should be collected and quantified using one of the seven quality tools (see Part 2 Chapter 14), preferably the Pareto analysis. You can then devise a plan to reduce the 20% of causes that account for 80% of the nonconformities. However, take care not to degrade other processes by your actions (see Theorg ofcon-staints in Part 2 Chapter 2). The plan should detail the action to be taken to eliminate the cause and the date by which a specified reduction is to be achieved. You should also monitor the reduction. The appropriate data collection measures therefore need to be in place to gather the data at a rate commensurate with the production schedule. Monthly analysis may be too infrequent analysis by shift may be more appropriate. 

The steps you need to take to deal with specific problems will vary depending on the nature of the problem. The part that can be proceduralized is the planning process for determining the preventive action needed. A typical process may be as follows ... 

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