Even after many years of hearing the words “ISO 9000” and seeing the benefits from the numerous organizations that achieve registration to it, some companies are still skeptical when it comes to going for ISO 9001 registration for themselves.
For some, a misconception about the objectives of the ISO 9001 standard or a lack of knowledge may steer them off-path. For others, the obstacle may be financing this goal plus the long-term costs associated with maintaining compliance. Whatever your fears may be, allow me to explain the fundamental benefits and try to demonstrate the reason why ISO 9001 is the best management tool that was ever created.
ISO 9001 as a Foundation
Look at how houses are built all over the world, and you will find various construction techniques. Whatever the architectural preference may be, there is one thing that most houses built to code has, and that is a foundation. The better the foundation, the better the house will stand the test of time—regardless of how many families pass through its doors.
Here is where ISO 9001 can really help an organization. The first step on the journey toward being a great enterprise is to build a sound foundation. ISO 9001 is just that. ISO 9001 has a robust set of guidelines, and if implemented correctly, an organization can establish policies and procedures that allow business processes to continue for many years—a sound foundation for the company.
ISO 9001 as a Basis for Company Culture
Businesses employ people who learn the company culture and idiosyncrasies and apply it to their own working habits. When the company has no culture, each person will work using his or her own habits (whether they're good or bad); therefore, the business itself will be a mix of various habits and ideas, with none of them leading the way for new projects or work. Employees of companies that are not ISO 9001 registered typically use their prior experiences and try to apply them to their jobs. Some will yield great results and some won’t, but worse, each experience will be different and there is no common ground. Without ISO 9001, employees work in a very haphazard way, with some wanting to set rules but unable to find the system by which to do it.
The ISO 9001 standard provides the principles you need to have a solid foundation that can become part of your company culture. When applied right, your employees will embrace the ISO 9001 approach and make it part of their business culture. When the owner or top management propagates this culture, it is very likely that every employee will be directly or indirectly indoctrinated. Even when some of these rules are not written or spelled out, the culture will be transferred from employee to employee. They will no longer feel as if they are in going in different directions, but rather that they are working toward the same goals, becoming empowered and more secure in making the right decisions for their business.
A New Pride to Market
When you become ISO 9001 registered, employees are excited about the new system in place. Not only are they proud of their quality management system, but they feel good that “opportunity for continual improvement” is heard more often than “we made a mistake.” But nobody is more excited than the sales and marketing people, eager to place that "ISO 9001 Registered” logo on every piece of company literature.
Although it may seem that sales and marketing are often the least interested group in getting the company ISO 9001 registered, their behavior changes when it's time to market the achievement. The registration process, which seemed like a lot of work, is now a new tool to gain additional customers and a new reason of pride to share with existing ones.
Suddenly ISO 9001 takes center stage, and the company can say, “We have a quality management system based on the ISO 9001 standard and we are proud of it.”
World-class Quality Practices for a Small Fee
ISO 9001 takes proven ideas, techniques, and principles from world-class quality companies and gives those as an integrated set of “standards” to help organizations accomplish a certain level of quality. Of course, overall success will depend on the kind of business you run and the product or services you may sell, but the common denominator that highly competitive companies use is similar.
Large corporations often employ scholars, researchers, and experts to define new processes, solve problems, or create new technology for their business. The average business could not afford that and even going on a benchmarking spree seems more suitable to companies with big pockets than the average midsize business. ISO 9001 brings baseline practices that are considered typical and that are commonly seen in world-class quality companies. You need not be an expert or research what other companies are doing to be successful. All you have to do is look at the ISO 9001 standard and you will find the minimum common denominator.
Although the cost of the standard itself is minimal, the initial cost of registration and recurrent costs of maintaining compliance to the standard can seem large; however, when you look at the immediate and long-term benefits of becoming registered, it is easy to see that the benefits outweigh those costs.
Summary
If you have been thinking about implementing ISO 9001, ask yourself:
- Does my company have a foundation?
- Are all the employees working toward the same goal?
- Are our employees proud of our company?
- Are our competitors ISO 9001-registered?
- Do we have an edge on our competition?
Chances are you could use the standard to take your company to the next level and into the ranks of world-class quality organizations.
Miriam Boudreaux is president of Mireaux Management Solutions, an ISO consulting firm in Houston, Texas. This article first appeared in "Quality Digest Daily," an electronic publication from Quality Digest magazine.
For more information on AIAG’s activities and initiatives in quality and how you can learn more or get involved, contact Karen Whitmore or visit the AIAG Web site.
