ISO and Quality"Customer satisfaction" is the main element when defining and describing quality. If you are able to maintain your existing customer base, as well as obtain new customers, then you are achieving quality. Because of the responsibilities called out in the ISO 9001:2000 Standard, organisations often see an increased involvement of top management with regards to the Quality Management System. This starts with the setting of the Quality Policy and Quality Goals and Objectives. It continues with Management Review looking at data from the QMS, and taking actions to make sure that Quality Goals are met, new Goals are set, and continual improvement is achieved.
With the QMS in place and working for you, the organisation is focused towards the Quality Goals. Management is provided with data on a continual basis and able to see progress or lack of progress towards goals and take appropriate action. The organised, scheduled process of conducting Management Review ensures that this evaluation takes place. It provides the mechanism of reviewing goals and performance against goals on a scheduled basis, and for taking action based on the evaluation. Increased productivity results from the initial evaluation and improvement of processes that occurs during the implementation process and from improved training and qualification of employees. Better documentation or control of processes leads to consistency in performance, and less scrap and rework. Managers experience fewer late night troubleshooting calls; employees have more information for troubleshooting problems on their own.
Customer satisfaction increases are seen as Goals and Objectives take the customer needs into account. Customer needs are better understood as customer feedback is sought, received and analysed. Goals and objectives are adjusted based on the information and the organisation becomes more customer driven. As goals focus on the customer, the organisation spends less time focusing on individual goals of departments and more time working together to meet customer needs. All of this leads to financial rewards, your reward for your hard work and investment in the Quality Management System. So work with enthusiasm and optimism, knowing that your organisation will be significantly improved by this ISO 9001:2000 implementation project. You are contributing to the future success and profitability of your company. - When ISO 9001:2000 is implemented in an organisation:
- Well defined and documented procedures improve the consistency of output
- Quality is constantly measured
- Procedures ensure corrective action is taken whenever defects occur
- Defect rates decrease
- Defects are caught earlier and are corrected at a lower cost
- Defining procedures identifies current practices that are obsolete or inefficient
- Documented procedures are easier for new employees to follow
- Organisations retain or increase market share, increasing sales or revenues
Top reasons given for registration:
- Internal operational efficiency
- Lower production costs because of fewer nonconforming products, less rework, lowered rejection rates, streamlined processes and fewer mistakes.
- Access to new markets
- Some markets require ISO 9001 Registration, some markets favour companies with ISO 9001 Registration
- Customer request
- Many organisations are asked by a customer to obtain registration as a requirement to continue or to start doing business with them.
- Reducing costs
- Organisations are recognising that an effective Quality Management System leads to reduced costs and greater operating margins
What will ISO 9001:2000 do for my organisation?
- Well designed and implemented Quality Management System, based on ISO 9001:2000 has been shown to provide organisations with the following benefits:
- Reduced costs are obtained through:
- Improved product reliability
- Better process control and flow
- Better documentation of processes,
- Greater employee quality awareness
- Reductions in product scrap, rewords and rejections
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