In order for a business to be successful it is essential that it must have a management system capable of ensuring the business can achieve its goals and objectives. The ISO 9000 series of standards relate to Quality Management Systems however as businesses will tend to have one system, formalizing the system to focus solely on quality will have no real benefits to your business. Therefore, it will be necessary to move away from a system focusing wholly on quality, to a system that focuses on all the characteristics of your business.
The main reason your business is in existence is to highlight the requirements and expectations of your customers and other persons concerned (employees, suppliers etc) to accomplish an advantage over you competitors. In addition to this, another objective must be to gain, sustain and develop your businesses performance and resources.
As a means to achieve improvements within your business you should ensure that your business employs the key principles that are fundamental to ISO 9001:2000, these are:
- Customer Focus;
- Involvement of People;
- Leadership;
- Process Approach;
- Factual Approach;
- System Approach;
- Continual Improvements;
- Mutually Beneficial Supplier Relationships.
Following the principles highlighted above ensures that your business focuses on what your customer actually requires and not what they think they require. In order for your business to move forward successfully it is essential that you run it in a methodical and well thought out manner that is highly perceptible. To achieve success from your business you must ensure that your business adopts a business management system which will ensure that continual improvement is constantly being driven by the management system. If your business is to develop and have a business management system that will allow growth and sustainability, you will have to ensure that you build a management system that is focused on your customers. To achieve this objective your business management system must contain systems and processes that are easily understood by the individuals within your business. It is also crucial that these systems can be managed easily and improvements made if they are necessary without any detrimental affect on the day to day operation of your business. The processes within your management system must be capable of being measured to ensure they are performing as required. It does also mean that when setting these key performance indicators, intelligent thought is given to the areas that you are measuring. It is worth remembering that individuals are likely to improve in areas in which they are being measured. Therefore it is critical that any process measuring is carried out in areas that will benefit the system and your business as a whole.
By: Mark Inglis
Posts Tagged ‘Quality Management Systems’
Business Management Principles
April 17th, 2010The Importance of Documentation in Quality Management Systems
December 14th, 2009Quality documentation is a must in the modern world. Essentially, quality documentation is the type of documentation where a physical process or activity is conveyed through the medium of writing by having it noted down in a document of some kind. This is a necessity due to several reasons. Most importantly, it allows errors to be isolated and successes to be replicated. Documentation also helps you to guard against the risk of potential litigation.
One of the most important parts of running any successful business or organisation is to make sure that you always have clear precise documentation of every single important transaction, process, and action that takes place. This will allow you to have a clear reference point whenever anything is in question. Additionally, the chances of processes and actions deviating from their expected results are very low when there is a comprehensive and systematic database of documentation concerning the appropriate requirements and procedures that need to be implemented. Some of the subjects and topics that businesses need documentation for on a regular basis include, but are not limited to:
Operations Manuals and Procedure Writing
Quality Management Systems
Safety Management Systems
Environmental Management Systems
Integrated Management Systems
Procedures, Forms & Technical Writing
Consulting and Certification Processes
Electronic Manuals
Staff Handbooks
System Upgrades
Training
As is plain to see, this extensive list of documentation is something that can make or break a business. As such, it is always a good idea to outsource the creation of these documents to professionals who have been working in the field of documentation for a significant period and have the relevant experience that is required to complete such a complex task.
Quality Management without the paper
August 29th, 2009The ISO Standards are now well accepted as best practice in almost every business sector but they can still be perceived as being time consuming to implement and manage.The ISO 9001:2008 standard wraps around your existing processes and specifically states that you should not change your working methods to become compliant. The rule is ‘Say what you do, then do what you say’.‘ISO in a Box’ helps you to challenge and ‘gap-analyse’ your methods and processes to ensure that they do what you need them to do, then provides a framework for their ongoing management. Compliance with ISO 14001:2004 may require you to put new processes and measures in place in order to minimise your impact on the environment. One such product is ISO in a Box product that could change the way that quality and environmental management systems are perceived. When asked what ISO quality management systems mean, owners of SME businesses typically respond by saying either “a lot of bureaucracy” or “ISO is something that a company needs if it wants to work with the public sector”. This cynicism is usually based on the perception that quality management must inhibit effective management and that the organisation will sink under the weight of paperwork. Early last year Equas MD, David Morgan, took the decision to tackle this perception by investing in technology. He explains “we knew that an effective quality management system had to be simple to use, capable of effective document management and, most importantly, be accessible by staff throughout the organisation – wherever they worked. We came up with the idea of a new product which we called “ISO Activ”, but needed a trusted technology partner to deliver it. Equas approached their own software suppliers with the idea. Technical Director of GreyRidge Software, Tom Hill, describes what Equas were looking for: “David wanted an easy-to-use way of delivering and editing processes and documents without the need for a paper manual. This need developed into a concept of editable ‘wiki’ pages, supported with embedded standard office documents and the potential for mapping processes in an intuitive way”. The result is an innovative product that could well transform the image of ISO in the marketplace. Businesses simply sign-up for the system and, with security and hosting all taken care of and with access to a flexible template system and documentation library, they can start the process of implementing ISO quality and environmental management systems in minutes. David is delighted: “We are committed to breaking down the idea that ISO is all about paperwork and is simply something you get because a customer has asked for it. The new ISO Activ system is a core part of this approach. We know that with it, people will start to see quality management as something that is genuinely useful and easy to do”. Sales Director of Equas, Mike Dowd, says “the best thing is that it is as easy to understand as a paper system yet it involves no paper and cuts down on bureaucracy. I am a technophobe and even I find it easy!” After many months of design and development, the new software has now been launched and is already starting to prove popular. More than 15 businesses have started using the system with many more about to follow. David is particularly pleased that it is unexpectedly taking them beyond the SME marketplace and attracting interest from large corporations. For example, Equas are currently using Activ to implement an integrated quality management system for a company with manufacturing operations in six countries. In addition, Equas have just signed an agreement to franchise the new product in Canada and the US, and are in process of concluding a similar agreement with a German partner. With almost everything been calculated on carbon emission scale, and the usage of papers in documentation for creating ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 management systems, the usage of paper can be significantly decreased by using softwares which help in maintaining all the data and also eases record keeping and updating.
The ISO Standards are now well accepted as best practice in almost every business sector but they can still be perceived as being time consuming to implement and manage.The ISO 9001:2008 standard wraps around your existing processes and specifically states that you should not change your working methods to become compliant. The rule is ‘Say what you do, then do what you say’.‘ISO in a Box’ helps you to challenge and ‘gap-analyse’ your methods and processes to ensure that they do what you need them to do, then provides a framework for their ongoing management. Compliance with ISO 14001:2004 may require you to put new processes and measures in place in order to minimise your impact on the environment. One such product is ISO in a Box product that could change the way that quality and environmental management systems are perceived.
When asked what ISO quality management systems mean, owners of SME businesses typically respond by saying either “a lot of bureaucracy” or “ISO is something that a company needs if it wants to work with the public sector”. This cynicism is usually based on the perception that quality management must inhibit effective management and that the organisation will sink under the weight of paperwork.
Early last year Equas MD, David Morgan, took the decision to tackle this perception by investing in technology. He explains “we knew that an effective quality management system had to be simple to use, capable of effective document management and, most importantly, be accessible by staff throughout the organisation – wherever they worked. We came up with the idea of a new product which we called “ISO Activ”, but needed a trusted technology partner to deliver it.
Equas approached their own software suppliers with the idea. Technical Director of GreyRidge Software, Tom Hill, describes what Equas were looking for: “David wanted an easy-to-use way of delivering and editing processes and documents without the need for a paper manual. This need developed into a concept of editable ‘wiki’ pages, supported with embedded standard office documents and the potential for mapping processes in an intuitive way”.
The result is an innovative product that could well transform the image of ISO in the marketplace. Businesses simply sign-up for the system and, with security and hosting all taken care of and with access to a flexible template system and documentation library, they can start the process of implementing ISO quality and environmental management systems in minutes.
David is delighted: “We are committed to breaking down the idea that ISO is all about paperwork and is simply something you get because a customer has asked for it. The new ISO Activ system is a core part of this approach. We know that with it, people will start to see quality management as something that is genuinely useful and easy to do”. Sales Director of Equas, Mike Dowd, says “the best thing is that it is as easy to understand as a paper system yet it involves no paper and cuts down on bureaucracy. I am a technophobe and even I find it easy!”
After many months of design and development, the new software has now been launched and is already starting to prove popular. More than 15 businesses have started using the system with many more about to follow. David is particularly pleased that it is unexpectedly taking them beyond the SME marketplace and attracting interest from large corporations. For example, Equas are currently using Activ to implement an integrated quality management system for a company with manufacturing operations in six countries. In addition, Equas have just signed an agreement to franchise the new product in Canada and the US, and are in process of concluding a similar agreement with a German partner.
With almost everything been calculated on carbon emission scale, and the usage of papers in documentation for creating ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 management systems, the usage of paper can be significantly decreased by using softwares which help in maintaining all the data and also eases record keeping and updating.
By: jim damon
