To
comply with the requirements of the new standard, an organization will have to
carefully identify and define processes for management, resource administration,
production and service provision, and measurement, analysis and improvement.
An organization must strive to put the “customer first.”
Carefully determining customer needs and expectations, monitoring
customer satisfaction, and striving to continuously improve all processes will
accomplish this. Finally, many
processes will need to be monitored and measured to ensure continual
improvement. The later will require
the use of statistical tools
Our ISO quality system seems to be a
"cost of doing business." Will the system ever provide a "return
on our investment?
Yes,
but for a quality system to be effective you must first understand that it is
simply a tool. If you seek to
understand what the tool can do for you, and then train your employees on how to
effectively use the tool, ISO can be a wonderful quality tool.
It is a certainty that any quality system that was implemented based on
“canned” procedures, policies, processes, instructions, forms and checklists
is doomed to fail. NO CONSULTANT OR REGISTRAR CAN TURN YOUR ORGANIZATION INTO A “MEAN,
LEAN, ISO FIGHTING MACHINE.” ONLY
YOUR COMPANY CAN DO THIS! To be truly effective and provide a good “return
on investment,” you need to identify and define your processes, implement
those that work and “re-engineer” those that don’t. When this is done your
ISO system will most definitely provide a significant return on your investment.
When
internal auditing is established as a system for controlling employees and is
based on a monthly tally of “gotcha’s” internal auditing will forever be
your enemy. To be truly successful, internal auditing should be an evaluation
tool used to catch employees doing the job right and then commending them on
audit reports and other internal communication tools.
An employee who sees internal auditing as an audit of the company’s
quality system and not of the employee, will be receptive to accepting auditing
as a continual improvement tool.
What is ISO14000 and should my company
be concerned with the standard?
ISO
14001 is an Environmental Management System standard that helps companies
identify environmental aspects (both good and bad), establish objectives and
targets to improve environmental processes, and contribute to the environmental
well-being of the company, it’s employees, it’s neighbors, it’s state, the
nation, and ultimately to the world as a whole.
Companies that want to contribute positively to the environment, want an
immediate return on environmental investment dollars, and want to compete in the
global marketplace NEED TO BEING THE JOURNEY TOWARDS ISO 14001 REGISTRATION.
Are ISO 9001 implementation costs tax
deductible?
Yes.
However, your company’s CFO or other financial advisor needs to obtain
the IRS White Paper addressing the ISO system and comply with its provisions.
What can we do to demonstrate “continual improvement?
The ISO standard is very clear on what
a company should do to ensure continual improvement.
In clause 8.5.1 we learn that tools for continual improvement include the
quality policy, measureable objectives, audit results, analysis of data,
corrective and preventive actions, and management reviews.
As
you can easily see, the list is endless. Consider
a sound cost-of-quality (CoQ) system, identify and implement the use of
statistical techniques to monitor, measure, and improve your processes,
products, and services, and establish meaningful corporate goals and objectives.
How much will it cost our company to implement an ISO 9001 Quality
Management System?
When
internal resources, external resources, and registration costs are all factored
in, the average cost of ISO registration is $150,000.00.
ISO certification in some industries (bio-medical, aerospace, automotive,
and telecommunications) can easily exceed the average.
ISO certification costs for most manufacturing and service operations
will generally be less than the average. Again,
ISO should not be evaluated with respect to its implementation cost, but rather
on it’s continuous long-term “return on your investment” dollars.
Basically, what you receive back from ISO is directly related to the
investment you made in its implementation. Remember the old “garbage in /
garbage out” saying.
Most
definitely! Techlogic works closely
with companies to put a quality system in place that is “good for the
business, good for the employees, and good for the stakeholders.”
With respect to the investment, remember that “Rome was not built in a
day”, and neither will your company’s quality system. Carefully planning and
conscience implementation efforts will allow your quality system to be built and
improved as your company grows.
How
long will it take for our company to become ISO 9001:2008 registered?
Depending
on the size of your company, its complexity, and the industry segment you are
working in, anywhere from four to twelve months. Most small to mid-sized
companies achieve ISO certification in a four to six-month timeframe.