ISO 9001 – Quality Management

ISO 9001:2008 is by far the most common and popular quality standard in use today. One of the main reasons for its popularity is the fact that it is certifiable. Once a company’s Quality Management System (QMS) has been audited successfully by an accredited certification agency, they can publicly claim to be “ISO 9001 certified” or “ISO 9001 registered”. While certification to an ISO 9000 standard does not of itself guarantee the quality of end products and services, it does, nevertheless give assurance to existing and potential customers that the organisation has systems in place to manage the quality of its products and services.

Although the standards originated in manufacturing, it is now in common use in service companies, government agencies, charities and other not-for-profit organisations.

The key elements a company implementing ISO 9001 would need to look at include:

• Key roles and responsibilities within the organisation need to be defined
• The quality policy – a formal statement from management, closely linked to the business plan and to customer needs. Each employee needs measurable objectives to support this
• All key processes of the company need to be documented, and ideally mapped.
• Everyone must have access to up-to-date documents and be aware of how to use them.
• To maintain the quality system and produce conforming product/acceptable service levels requires suitable infrastructure, resources, information, equipment, measuring and monitoring devices, and environmental conditions.
• Requirements for purchased products should be clear and unambiguous
• You need to have clear systems for communicating with customers about product information, inquiries, contracts, orders, feedback and complaints are required when introducing new products, all stages of development need to be planned and appropriate testing at each stage put in place. It is important also to ensure that the product meets design requirements, regulatory requirements and user needs.
• The quality system needs to be audited and evaluated regularly to ensure effectiveness.
• Where quality objectives are not met, for whatever reason, this needs to be investigated, the root cause identified and appropriate corrective measures taken.

Implementing ISO 9001 is said by many to be an onerous task resulting in an over-reliance on bureaucratic and sometimes irrelevant procedures. This is where a good consultant can make all the difference. Jordan Business Systems can provide many documents in draft format, and can assist in writing others. We will provide the basic structure of your system, and will work closely with you to ensure that it meets the requirements of the Standard.

Most importantly, we ensure that the Quality System is designed to suit your Company’s unique culture and needs.
Contact us today for a free no-obligations meeting.