ISO 9001:2000 Introduction

There is a huge misunderstanding of Quality Management in general and ISO 9001:2000 in particular. Even the companies that have already been certified, do not always understand this standard.

ISO 9001:2000 seeks to certificate your Management System and is process based. This means that it expects your business to be process driven. What this process looks like, is the management's responsibility and ISO 9001:2000 is not prescriptive. But once management has  decided on a process, ISO 9001:2000 seeks for you to be seen to implement it AND measure it's performance for continuous improvement.

The Quality Manager and the Quality Team supports management by providing advice and expert services. The Quality Manager cannot do the work, as it will mean that the QM is managing your business! Remember: The ISO 9001:2000 certificates your Management System and the management system is management's responsibility. 

INDEX

• What is ISO 9001:2000
• Why implement ISO 9001:2000
• Symptoms of Customers Requirement driven certification
• Symptoms of Head Office Requirement driven certification
• Symptoms of Local Management Requirement driven certification
• Conclusion

What is ISO 9001:2000?

Why would you implement ISO 9001:2000?

"This International Standard can be used by internal and external parties, including certification bodies, to assess the organization's ability to meet customer, regulatory and the organization's own requirements." - ISO 9001:2000

ISO 9001:2000 is implemented for various reasons:

1. Customer Requirement: The customer states that you will not do business with them unless you have ISO 9001:2000 accreditation. The major benefit for the customer is that the service provider is forced to ensure that the business is meeting customer requirements.
2. Business Requirement: Management wants to obtain certification to ensure that the policies, processes and procedures they specify is adhered to. This again can be drive from two angles:
   1. Head Office. This is normally done with the view to ensure that all branches of the company work the same and measure their performance for continuous improvement.
   2. Local Management makes a strategic decision that they will implement continuous improvement based on facts, including the continuous improvement of customer satisfaction
3. Benefits:

What are the benefits for your business of achieving the ISO 9001:2000 certification?

1. Common Vocabulary for Management. The management team has a common vocabulary. The term process performance is not foreign, neither terms like “continuous improvement”, “preventive action”, “corrective action” etc.
2. Process Driven Organization. Your business is driven towards a process-driven organization that improves understanding of the processes and makes the identification of risks easier.
3. Shorter Learning Curve. The framework of the management system is already in place. This makes it easier for new members to understand the principles of the business and how these are integrated into the organization, shortening learning curves and prevent misunderstandings.
4. Outside View. Yearly audits gives your business an outside view of your management system and you benefit from experiences the auditors gained by auditing similar businesses
5. Process Remain Current. Regular reviews of the processes ensure that they are kept current and that lessons learnt are worked into them for future benefit.
6. Certificated Management System. The management system of your company is certificated by an outside party and takes you one step closer in achieving the ultimate management system for your business.

Here are some symptoms you will find within organizations who have an implemented ISO 9001:2000 certificated management process. There are of course, as always, mixtures of the above reasons why companies would do this. In this article, I will only be looking at the purest forms:

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Symptoms of Customers Requirement driven certification

• Quality the Quality Manager's task
• Quality is extra work and an overhead
• Business performance is measured by financial figures
• Improvements are made based on previous experience and gut feel
• Maintenance costs are cut by reducing personnel
• Processes are documented to please the auditors
• Many hours of hard work to pass the audit is put in just before the audit
• EFQM and Six Sigma is not required to maintain the ISO 9001:2000 certification and therefore not required

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Symptoms of Head Office Requirement driven certification

•  Quality is the Quality Manager and the Quality team's task
•  Quality is extra work and an overhead
•  Business performance is measured in order to satisfy Head Office
•  Improvements are based on instructions by auditors and Head Office
•  Maintenance costs are cut by reducing personnel
•  Processes are documented to please Head Office
•  Many hours of hard work to pass the audit is put in just before the audit
•  EFQM and Six Sigma is not required to maintain the ISO 9001:2000 certification and will only be required if told so by Head Office

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Symptoms of Local Management Requirement driven certification

• Quality Management is every person's business
• Quality Management is not something extra, it is the way we do business
• Business performance is measured on various fronts using a Balanced Scorecard - type approach. It includes customer satisfaction, BEE targets, process effectiveness, process performance, personnel effectiveness and efficiency, health and safety, environment etc.
• Improvements are made after analysis of relevant data and measurable
• Maintenance costs are reduced by analyzing benchmarking metrics
• Processes are documented to enable process performance measurements
• Audits are used to obtain improvement suggestions and forms part of the daily activities of the business
• EFQM and Six Sigma is used on a routine basis in order to identify possible areas of improvement

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Conclusion

Implementing ISO 9001:2000 is not a decision to be taken lightly.

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