ISO is the International Organization for Standards and produces international standards. A network of standards institutes forms the ISO, of which there currently are 163 countries represented by these institutes. Since the ISO is the world’s largest developer of standards, it would be beneficial to follow these standards.
What is ISO 9000?
ISO 9000 is a group of standards from ISO for quality management systems (QMS). This standard can be used in any type of business but started out focusing on manufacturing organizations. If a business wants to sell a product or do business internationally, being ISO 9000 certified will mean that it adheres to a high level of quality standards that are understood the world over and will attract more clients.
ISO 9000 certification means that a company can meet requirements related to the quality of a product and also customer service. It provides a set of rules that have been followed successfully over time to manage the various processes of an organization to turn out a successful product. The standard explains what requirements for quality a company must adhere to in order to be effective. To ensure ISO 9000’s success, audits can be conducted internally by a company or by outside sources or clients.
ISO 9000 Principles
ISO 9000 is based on eight fundamental principles. The first is based on customer satisfaction. Improved resource utilization increases efficiency and customer satisfaction. Leadership importance makes up the second principle. Leadership merges the processes and people so that the production cycle is streamlined. The third principle involves people in the organization. Everyone in the organization needs to have job ownership and be able to talk about any issue or questions they may have. Communicating with those performing the work can lead to process improvements.
Process approach is the fourth principle. The cycles of manufacturing a product have to be made into a consistent process. Better process efficiency leads to increased speed and more cost effectiveness. The fifth principle builds upon the fourth, taking the processes and building them into one large system. All processes that have a common goal should act as one. This will build consistency and better efficiency in production. Principle six is to continue to improve. Improvements will take time. Continual Process Improvement will be achieved through setting goals. The seventh principle is to focus on facts when making decisions. Information needs to be analyzed and decisions made from what is found. The final principle is to have a symbiotic relationship with suppliers. This aids in speed in ordering and lowering of costs. Taking these principles in order will help an organization streamline its processes.
Benefits of ISO 9000
ISO 9000 adherence will guide a company to improve their quality management systems. Adhering to the standard will help gain business for the company using it since it has a reputation for quality. Customers will know that they are the focus of a business if it is ISO 9000 certified. Some clients may not even do business with a company that is not ISO 9000 certified. ISO 9000 compliance can oftentimes be attributed to an increase in sales. Having better access to markets on an international level is another attraction of the standard’s adoption. Improved efficiency since all processes are documented can occur. From increased improvements comes buy-in from employees, who become more involved in the processes and overall quality of the systems and improved communication occursEmployees begin to take ownership of their roles in the company due to the improvements from ISO 9000 adoption, thus becoming more involved in the processes and communications.
Roger Hug is the Vice President of Sales Engineering of Maloya Laser, leaders in <A href=”http://www.MaloyaLaser.com”>contract manufacturing</a> and <A href=”http://www.maloyalaser.com/turnkey_products.php”>turnkey manufacturing</a> servicing machinery, aerospace, medical, scientific and transportation requirements with Laser Cutting technologies.