A START TO ISO 9001

Some people look at an ISO 9001 quality management system as a great tool to advance their company while others view the standard to be burdensome and a hindrance to their business. In many cases, your view comes down to your past experience or rumors you’ve heard throughout the industry.

In too many cases, ISO 9001 Quality Management Systems are often put in place to simply satisfy the requirements of the standard. Businesses look at their business and the standard requirements as two separate things and try to keep them that way so that the standard requirements do not impact their business.

Let’s look at this a different way, the way ISO 9001 was meant to be.

An ISO 9001 Quality Management System should be the framework of your business. The Foundation of your business. The problem is that many people have pre-established notions of how an ISO 9001 system should look. But this view does not work for every company. Each company should establish an ISO 9001 system that is unique to them and works with their business, not against it.

So what is an ISO 9001 Quality Management System?

It’s the foundation of how you:

• Identify your business risks
• Put controls in place to ensure you have a repeatable outcome
• Ensure employees are aware of their responsibilities
• Find ways to continually improve your business

How you do that while meeting the ISO 9001 standard requirements is completely up to you.

Don’t let the stigma of ISO 9001 certification stop you from growing your business. Get the industry recognition for having a quality business that will take your business to the next level.

It is often assumed that ISO 9001 is primarily for the manufacturing industry. That is definitely an industry that commonly obtains ISO 9001 certification, but it is by no means the only industry. ISO 9001 can be used by any organization, large or small, regardless of its field of activity or its industry.

ISO 9001 has been implemented by over one million companies and organizations in over 170 countries.

When it comes to ISO 9001, we don’t consider ourselves quality consultants as much as we consider ourselves business consultants.

The ISO 9001 standard is based on a number of quality management principles including a strong customer focus, the motivation and implication of top management, the process approach and continual improvement. ISO 9001 helps ensure that customers get consistent, good quality products and services, which in turn brings many business benefits.

ISO 9001: Quality Management Principles of Operation

In the era of information, knowledge, and technology consumers have more buying power than they used to. As a result of this shift in the purchase-power dynamic, quality of product and service, as well as the consumer experience has become much more important. So vital, in fact, that many companies are making the consumer experience their number one priority. ISO 9001 and quality management principles, also prioritize quality in product, service, and consumer experience. 

Pursuing ISO 9001 certification yields many benefits to organizations. As with all ISO certifications, ISO 9001 is obtainable by organizations of any size or stature. In other words, companies as small as a single-person, or as large as a conglomerate composed of multiple entities. 

Quality Management Principles

The quality management principles laid out in ISO 9001 address quality management at a high level. In other words, certain aspects of ISO 9001 will only apply to specific types of organizations, while others will be universal. 

Companies that are pursuing certification in ISO 9001 should conduct the specific research related to their field or industry to ensure they’re integrating all of the applicable sections of ISO 9001. No matter how robust your implementation of ISO 9001 is, the categorical results should be nearly identical across organizations and companies no matter their size. 

The core of quality management comes down to the executive level employees, c-suite executives, and leadership of the company. With any large-scale or company-wide initiative, the support and reinforcement from upper management is extremely vital to garnering organization-wide support, and employee buy-in. 

After establishing a culture that is ready to accept quality management principles of ISO 9001, the company will see a whole series of positive results. 

Benefits of ISO 9001

Investing in quality management should already be a priority in your organization. Emphasizing quality management improves many layers of the organization that are vital to improving and growing business. 

With easier access to information, consumers are more readily equipped with the data they need to make informed product decisions when it comes to purchasing. In other words, with the era of the internet, and an oversaturated marketplace that is full of competition, consumers have the ability to choose from any number of companies offering similar products or services. 

In fact, after a single negative experience with a brand, even long-standing consumers will choose to jump-ship and head to the doors of a competitor. 

ISO 9001 enhances the consumer experience overall by dedicating the organization to buying into and developing quality management practices that relate to the products and services that the company offers, as well as the consumer journeys.