ISO is the International Organization for Standards and produces international standards. The ISO is made up of standards institutes from 163 countries. It can help a company to adopt ISO standards since the ISO is the world’s biggest producer of standards.
What is ISO 9000?
ISO 9000 is a group of standards from ISO for quality management systems (QMS). This standard began as a standard specifically for manufacturing but has been used in other businesses. Being ISO 9000 certified will show that a company values high quality standards and will help draw clients internationally since the standards are known worldwide.
The importance of customer service and meeting quality requirements are characteristics of a company that is ISO 9000 certified. It provides a set of rules that have been followed time and again successfully to manage organizational processes to turn out a successful end product. The standard describes 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
Eight principles make up ISO 9000. The first is based on customer satisfaction. Being able to better utilize the resources available at a company improves efficiency and therefore customer satisfaction. Leadership importance makes up the second principle. Leadership is important because it brings together people and processes to streamline the whole production cycle. 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.
The fourth principle is process approach. A consistent process needs to be developed out of the cycles of product manufacturing. The more effective the process becomes, the faster it will be and more cost effective. The fifth principle builds upon the fourth, a large system is built out of all the smaller processes. All processes that have a common goal should act as one. Production efficiency and consistency will result. Principle six is improvement continuation. Nothing will be achieved instantaneously. 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 step by step will help an organization become more streamlined in its processes.
Benefits of ISO 9000
Improved quality management systems for a company can result in following ISO 9000. 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. An increase in sales can oftentimes be attributed to being ISO 9000 compliant. Having better access to markets on an international level is another attraction of the standard’s adoption. Processes are all documented, which lends to improved efficiency. 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 VP of Sales Engineering of Maloya Laser, leaders in <A href=”http://www.maloyalaser.com/turnkey_products.php”>turnkey product manufacturing</a> and <A href=”http://www.maloyalaser.com/contract_manufacturing.php”>contract metal manufacturing</a> servicing aerospace, scientific, transportation, medical and machinery needs with Laser Cutting technologies.
