ISO 9001 Quality Management System

It sets out the steps necessary to adopt a quality management system. It is designed to help organizations ensure they meet the needs and expectations of both customers and other interested parties, based on internationally recognized quality management principles set out by the International Standards Organization (ISO).

The standard has 10 clauses that can be used for organizing a new business as well as for continuous improvements year by year. This includes:

• setting up quality objectives,
• mapping objectives to business processes,
• managing customer requirements
• marketing plans

To be successful, an ISO 9001 implementation needs to have buy-in across all levels of management. Once implemented, the organization has a solid foundation and roadmap for delivering a quality product or service to customers.

ISO 9001 also provides the tools to:

• identify resources needed to produce and deliver a quality product or service
• implement quality monitoring metrics
• implement traceability in your processes, so error and wastage is minimized
• ensure continuous improvement of customers’ experiences.

A common misconception is that ISO 9001 is large organizations only. On the contrary, it’s the young business that stands to gain the most from this standard. The standard acts as a springboard to bypass the common trouble spots of a new or growing business, regardless of size.

How Will ISO 9001 help my Business?

A large part of ISO 9001 is about one goal – improving the customer experience at every touchpoint throughout the organization. This contributes to bottom line performance is many ways:

• Internal processes undergo a streamlining, removing unnecessary repetitive steps by different people or departments. The result is a more coordinated, efficient and effective effort with less time and resources wasted and less confusion for the customer
• Customers quickly identify companies with this level of quality. We do it all the time. The result is more customers and more opportunity
• A well-organized company will have a better motivated staff with higher morale, greater commitment to the organization and less turnover
• And, these companies are always in a better position to quickly respond to opportunities with confidence, agility, and competence, leading more business, and more opportunities

A commitment to quality is only as good as an accompanying commitment to perpetual improvement. This is built into the ISO 9001 standard. Maintaining the processes adopted during implementation ensures an investment in quality continues to pay dividends for years to come. This is mirrored in the standard’s annual ‘surveillance’ processes that is required for certification to stay current.

This is perhaps why ISO 9001 is one of the most widely used management tools in the world, with over a million organizations certified.

ISO 9001 Certification

Certification is the process of verifying that your company’s quality processes meet the ISO 9001 standard, by means of an audit by a Certified Lead Auditor.

About the Audit

The audit will assess a company’s quality processes for effectiveness in accordance with 7 key principles. These principles are globally recognized as the foundations of operational excellence:

• Customer focus
• Leadership
• Engagement of people
• Process Approach
• Improvement
• Evidence-based decision making
• Relationship management

During this audit, a company will have time to address any conformities before the final results are submitted to an Accredited Certification Body.

How can T-Next help my business gain ISO 9001 Certification?

T-Next provides services to support and advise your business on the path to implementation and certification of ISO 9001 and many other standards.

Our goals with every engagement are:

• Your implementation is of the quality and scale most suitable for your organization to give you the business benefits you are looking for
• Your organization is fully supported throughout the audit and certification process
• You are satisfied with the result

With a ‘Right-Sized’ approach and a competitive fee structure, we aim to deliver the most value with minimum complexity.

Our Principal Consultant is IRCA approved ISO 9001 Lead Auditor and have implemented management systems in more than 150 companies.