Is your business operating at maximum efficiency and productivity? Are you fostering loyal customers and earning the respect of new ones? Are you continually improving your processes with evidential metrics that increase your revenue?
If you’ve answered no to any of these questions, there is a simple solution: quality management system standards.
According to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), quality management systems serve as the foundation to guide an organization’s performance improvement.
A robust quality management system covers all processes in a business including organizational structure, policies, procedures, and resources needed to achieve quality objectives and meet customer requirements.
As standards go, ISO 9000, Quality management systems – Fundamentals and vocabulary, and ISO 9001, Quality management systems – Requirements, are among the most widely recognized in the world with over 1.1 million certificates issued worldwide across 187 countries.
ISO 9000 describes the fundamental concepts and principles of a quality management system, and ISO 9001 specifies the requirements for implementing and maintaining a quality management system.
These guidelines are intended to increase business efficiency and productivity, reduce unnecessary costs, and certify the quality of processes and products to ensure customer satisfaction.
The ISO 9000 family of standards are based on seven quality management principles: customer focus, leadership, engagement of people, process approach, improvement, evidence-based decision making, and relationship management.
However, these principles are not a rigid set of requirements. Instead, the relative importance of each principle will vary from organization to organization and can be expected to change over time.
This freedom allows your organization flexibility in how you implement your quality management system based on the scope of your business.
An important aspect of ISO 9000 is its process-oriented approach. Instead of looking at individual departments and processes as independent silos, ISO 9000 requires that a company look at “the big picture.”
How do processes interact? Can they be integrated with one another? What are the important aspects of products and services? Once this process-oriented approach is implemented, various audits can be done to check the effectiveness of the quality management system, providing consumers a conduit to evaluate the performance of an organization.
Recently released ISO 9000:2015 and ISO 9001:2015 underwent three years of revision work by experts around the globe. Replacing previous versions, these updated documents provide a framework for all businesses of every size – from banks and hospitals to universities and aerospace – to streamline processes and improve efficiency.
Based on the idea of continual improvement, ISO 9001:2015 incorporates elements such as a stronger focus on stakeholders and the wider context of an organization to fit the evolving needs of modern business.
The biggest difference in the new standard versus previous versions is the “High-Level Structure,” which follows other ISO management system standards, making it easier for anyone using multiple management systems to enhance an organization’s ability to satisfy its customers and have a coherent foundation for growth and sustained success.
By introducing a quality management system like ISO 9000 to businesses small and large, the quality of processes will increase, and costs due to inefficiency will decrease. In addition, your business will be able to advertise your use of the internationally recognized standard, which may create business opportunities previously unavailable before certification.
Having quality management systems in place also helps maintain the integrity and value of your business with well-documented, transparent processes, and proof of quality ensuring the reputation of your business in any situation.
Reaping the benefits of ISO 9000 and ISO 9001certificaiton are clear:
- Your company will work in a more efficient way since all your processes will be aligned and understood by everyone in the organization. This increases productivity and efficiency, and brings internal costs down.
- Your company will meet the necessary statutory and regulatory requirements.
- Your company will have the opportunity to expand into new markets, as some sectors and clients require ISO 9001 before doing business.
- Identifying and addressing the risks associated with your organization will be more specific and immediate.
Earning ISO 9000 and ISO 9001 certification carries a seal of quality recognized throughout the world, and contributes to the competitiveness of U.S. business. I urge you to implement ISO 9000 and ISO 9001, and if you have any questions or need guidance please reach out to the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), the U.S. member body to ISO, to learn more.
Filed Under: Industrial automation