Quality Standards with ISO 9001

Standardizing Quality Systems

The ISO, or International Organization for Standardization, was established in 1947 to develop international standards for everything from electronics to management systems. Having over 13,000 standards currently in place, ISO has created the auditing and certification process known as ISO 9001. This began the drive toward quality standards.

Improving Customer Satisfaction

Companies choose to implement ISO 9001 and get certified because many customers and industries require it. By keeping customers happy, they can increase sales and profitability for their business. And if an area of the company's program appears to be too bureaucratic and non-value-adding, then it might also be an area for continuous improvement efforts.

Enhancing Company Performance

Both customers and industries alike use ISO certification as a way to evaluate and audit their suppliers and products. Through an independent verification process, customers can gain assurance of their suppliers' products. And as a supplier becomes certified, the testing requirement is waved, which saves the company both time and money.

Developing Best Practices

Employed as a "Best Practices" model, ISO 9001 utilizes the philosophy of the "Plan-Do-Check-Act" continuous improvement cycle to achieve requirements. This process approach centers around eight quality management principles used by management as a guide toward improving performance and identifying the main elements needed in a good quality system:

1. Customer Focus

2. Leadership

3. Involvement of People

4. Process Approach

5. Systems Approach to Management

6. Continuous improvement

7. Factual Approach to Decision-Making

8. Mutually Beneficial Supplier Relationship

Building Stable Processes

ISO 9001 policies, procedures and forms can provide employers, managers and employees with a systematic and consistent approach to implementing policies, plans, procedures and work routines. Instead of building their own policies and procedures from scratch, some companies prefer to hire professional writers that have already prepared a set of written policies and procedures to help on the way to certification.

Auditing a Company System

In the certification process, an independent registrar will perform an on-site audit of a company's operations to verify that it complies with the ISO standard. If the business complies, then that company will be registered as ISO 9001 compliant.

Meeting Company and Customer Needs

On the way to certification, a business can meet its ISO needs by:

? Using well-defined processes and procedures to build stable processes

? Training in the audit and certification process

? Continuously improving with ISO 9001 standards

Noticing the Difference

With complete procedures manuals for ISO 9001 Quality Management System, required HR procedures, and an ISO training class, a template like an ISO 9001 Quality Manager Procedures Manual Series can help a business on its way to ISO 9001 certification. Sometimes the effort can be very great, but companies typically notice a remarkable difference in efficiency and effectiveness after the first year.

Chris Anderson has over 18 years of management experience working with business process design, software and systems engineering, consulting with companies large and small. He is also co-author of policies and procedures manual products, producing the layout, process design and implementation of the information to increase performance. He is currently the Managing Director of Bizmanualz, Inc.

Visit: http://www.bizmanualz.com

Latest News


The Money Times

ECONOMIC REPORT Global manufacturing gauges collapse in November
MarketWatch - 9 hours ago
... of price pressures hit an all-time low, according to a survey of corporate purchasing managers released Monday by the Institute for Supply Management. ...
Manufacturing index drops to 26-year low Washington Post
Manufacturing index at 26-year low CNNMoney.com
Manufacturing hits 26-year low Bizjournals.com
CNN - Forbes
all 695 news articles

Single Source Introduces New Advanced Quote Management (AQM)(TM ...
MarketWatch - 12 hours ago
All functions seamlessly integrate to the inherent back-office financials, inventory, purchasing and management reporting functionality of SM-Plus-meeting ...
KANA Recognized by Leading Industry Publications for Innovation ... Business Wire (press release)
all 23 news articles

CharlotteObserver.com

Construction Spending Reflects Economic Slowdown
New York Times, United States - 4 hours ago
The Institute for Supply Management’s monthly index of manufacturing activity fell to 36.2, from October’s 38.9. The reading is worse than Wall Street ...
October construction spending drops 1.2 percent International Herald Tribune
Construction spending fell again in October Bizjournals.com
US Oct construction spending fell 1.2 percent guardian.co.uk
GlobeSt. com - International Herald Tribune
all 267 news articles

WNCT

Price Tags on Partridges and Pear Trees: A Different CPI
New York Times, United States - 5 hours ago
By Catherine Rampell For the last 24 years, PNC Wealth Management (or its predecessor, Provident Bank) has released this whimsical index, a measure of the ...
Video: 12 Days of Christmas' Items Would Cost $86,609 AssociatedPress
'12 Days of Christmas' items would cost $86609 The Associated Press
Twelve Days of Christmas would cost $21000 Telegraph.co.uk
Reuters - guardian.co.uk
all 351 news articles

AGC and LCM Declare Dividends
MarketWatch - 5 hours ago
a diversified closed-end management investment company, has declared its December monthly dividend of $0.0664 per share, reflecting a reduction of $0.0286 ...
AGC and LCM Declare Dividends Trading Markets (press release)
Madison Strategic Sector Premium Fund (MSP) Declares Quarterly ... MarketWatch
PPR - $.0340 November Dividend MarketWatch
MarketWatch
all 58 news articles

Reuters

AIG sells wealth management unit to Abu Dhabi group
International Herald Tribune, France - 13 hours ago
NEW YORK: American International Group, the troubled insurance giant, said Monday that it had agreed to sell its wealth management provider AIG Private Bank ...
AIG Sheds A Private Bank Forbes
UPDATE 1-AIG to sell AIG Private Bank to UAE's Aabar Reuters
AIG to Sell Private Bank to Aabar Wall Street Journal
Trade Arabia - Reuters
all 174 news articles

Updated Information Regarding Auction Preferred Securities Market ...
MarketWatch - 5 hours ago
BOSTON, Dec 01, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- MFS Investment Management(R) (MFS) today announced the availability of information on the results of the weekly ...

Lincoln Financial Group Announces New Senior Management Committee ...
International Business Times, NY - 5 hours ago
She will also serve as amember of the firm's Senior Management Committee. Bettinger-Buckingham joins Lincoln Financial with more than 20 years ofexperience ...

Gideon Technologies CEO To Give Unified Compliance Management ...
MarketWatch - 8 hours ago
Unified Compliance Management simplifies this complex problem. "The combination of a holistic centralized view of the network, unified and continuous ...

Research and Markets: Training Management Maturity Model: A ...
MarketWatch - 9 hours ago
How effective is your current training management system? What do you need to do to improve it? Find out with this best practice model and set of assessment ...
Research and Markets: Fundamentals of Quality Control and ... MarketWatch
all 12 news articles

Resources