Running your business according to high standards sets you up for success.
With so many service providers and product choices available, building customer trust in the reliability and quality of your offering is a critical business strategy.
A whole industry has developed around the search for consistency and reliability in service and product delivery. Out of this industry the International Standards Organisation (ISO) developed.
Who or what is ISO?
ISO is a worldwide federation of national standards bodies that develop standards. Learn more about the ISO here.
ISO certification is the ultimate indication of reliability in product or service delivery consistency – and therefore in the reliability of a service or product.
A trust and values indicator
ISO certification is a trust indicator for customers when they need to make the evaluation of product or service value and greatly influence customer choice.
Businesses that work according to ISO standards can be trusted for consistency and reliability, and reflect the values of their customers who are concerned about the environment and humane treatment and welfare of the workers who created the products they buy.
Well known ISO Standards
There are several internationally accepted ISO standards. Some of the well known and most frequently implemented standards are:
· ISO 9001: 2015 Quality Management System (Link?)
· ISO 14001: 2015 Environmental Management System (Link?)
· ISO 45001: 2018 Safety and Health Management System (Link?).
Quality management guidelines
One of the most valuable standards systems is ISO 9001. This is the system that underlies consistent quality in product design and manufacture, and service delivery processes.
What is ISO 9001
ISO 9001 is a Quality management standard that present guidelines intended to increase business efficiency and customer satisfaction.
The goal of ISO9001 is to embed a quality management system within an organization increasing productivity, reducing unnecessary costs and ensuring quality products and processes.
What is a Quality Management System (QMS)
QMS is a collection of business processes and procedures which aims to ensure that the quality of products or services meets or exceeds customer expectations.
The objectives of ISO 9001
The objective of ISO 9001/2015 (often referred to as ISO 9000) is to provide a set of requirements that, if effectively implemented, will give you confidence that you, or your supplier, can consistently provide products and services that:
• Meet client needs and expectations.
• Comply with applicable regulations.
Business as a system
A system is only as good as the processes that makes up the system.
Every business is a system. The system can be good or bad.
Your business system is made up of all the many processes that you follow daily to execute your business idea. Every process that’s not effective and efficient creates a flaw in your system that my crash your business.
A good business system:
A business depends upon its system to run effectively and efficiently. A great system delivers great results. A well designed and efficiently implemented business system delivers consistency, next step clarity and speed of execution.
A great business system depends upon optimized business processes to make the business system as effective and efficient as possible.
From business setup, startup and growth to maturity, business processes are critical to business success.
A good business system is:
Clearly defined
Suitable to the unique business needs
In writing
Successfully integrates all the processes needed to make the system effective and efficient.
System processes can be replicated over and over again and can quickly be learned by new role players.
Processes successfully transform inputs to the desired standard outputs.
All the processes that make up the business system can be monitored easily.
Process tweaks and changes can be implemented without disrupting the entire system or causing costly stoppages.
Processes are optimized so that there are minimal wastage and input demands.
There is a continuous development program to monitor efficiency and to refine processes and the business system to meet changing demand and changes in the market environment.
A bad business system:
There are obvious causal links between poorly designed business systems and/or ineffective system implementation as root causes of business failure. ISO 9001 standards and the entire field of quality in business developed as a consequence of this business reality.
A bad business system:
Is chaotic, unclear, and random.
Outcomes are not the result of defined step by step processes. As there are no consistently taken activities(inputs) that lead to a consistent result, (output) results are inconsistent.
Checks can’t be successfully implemented to monitor the process, because there is no defined process to monitor. So quality is subjective, and products /services become unreliable.
The lack of clarity puts stress on the people tasked to do the work. This leads to mistakes, employee dissatisfaction and a high employee turnover.
The lack of consistency creates management distress.
And the lack of reliability leads to customer dissatisfaction, a loss of trust in the company and a downwards spiral of loss of income – ending in business failure.
This is a pattern seen clearly reflected in the high number of annual business failures.
The solution?
Be System Minded.
Develop the processes that form your business system that is critical to your business success.
What is the value of business processes?
Business processes help keep your company at task, prevent errors and increase the speed with which your staff can accomplish their work. Without defined processes, there are no way to guarantee that anyone does a task the same way twice.
The application of a process approach in a quality management system enables understanding and consistency in meeting requirements. The consideration of processes in terms of added value, achieve effective process performance and improvement of processes based on evaluation of data and information.
What is a business Process?
A business system consists of numerous linked activities called “processes” which must be defined, described, and managed. Definition of a process: Set of interrelated or interacting activities which transform inputs into outputs.
Why should a business have processes?
Companies rely on business processes to function. Business processes are the blueprint through which business activities are achieved.
Business processes must be clear efficient and adaptable. However, often managers and employees develop business process without a clear sense of thought or real understanding how the process fits into the larger organizational structure of the company.
What is a process approach in business?
The process approach is a management strategy.
To enhance corporate performance and achieve sustained success, organizations use the process approach to manage their activities.
When managers use this approach, it means that they manage and control their processes, the interactions between these processes, and the inputs and outputs that tie these processes together. It also means that they manage these interactions as a system.
What is Business Process Management?
Business process management is the practice of modelling, analyzing, and optimizing end to end business process to help meet your businesses’ strategic goals.
Some benefits of implementing ISO 9001 in your business process design
Implementing ISO 9001 in your business holds many benefits, both for your customers and for the management of your business. In fact, working according to ISO is a critical survival and success strategy for startups and fast-growing businesses. When the pedal is to the metal there is no time to fix mistakes. This is when high standard processes really make a critical difference.
When you are new to your market, you still need to build customer trust – reliability and consistence is key to create recurring sales and word-of-mouth referrals, as well as trust building positive testimonials.
Here are some benefits to ISO 9001 implementation:
· Improve product and service effectivity and efficiency.
· Cost reductions.
· Improve morale, communications and job satisfaction.
· Improve customer perception and higher customer satisfaction levels.
· Improved consistency of product and service performance.
· Competitive advantage and increased marketing and sales opportunities.
When making a choice, a customer wants to know that you will keep your word.
Product conformity is a key indicator to prospective clients that your business processes can be relied upon to deliver the product or service you promise in your advertising, marketing documents, sales meetings, and product specifications. In short, you will deliver what they pay for.
The quality of your supply chain is a key indicator that customers can rely on your product conformity.
What is a supply chain?
A supply chain encompasses everything from the delivery of source materials from the supplier to the manufacturer through to its eventual delivery to the end user. (The supply chain processes will typically form part of your core business processes or core value chain processes).
What is product conformity?
Product conformity is a term used to convey that a product meets specified conformance requirements. The conformance requirements for building products are often specified in standards or customer specifications. In some cases, it is a requirement that the manufacturer needs to sign to declare that your products comply with specified requirements.
Different types of processes that can benefit from ISO standards
Management processes: Policies, Management reviews, strategies, etc.
Customer orientated processes: Manufacturing processes in direct contact with the customers product and service, etc.
Supporting processes: Human resources, IT, Calibration, Maintenance, etc.
To implement a Quality Management System, you can follow a process of consistent development to design and enhance your business processes according to ISO standards.
You can focus your business process management on building your processes to work according to ISO standards.
As you consistently develop your business system towards working according to ISO standards, you will eventually become ready for ISO system Certification.
Your ISO system certification will only follow an audit to establish that you are ISO standards compliant for the ISO standards system for which you have requested certification.
Different types of audits
- 3rd party audits for ISO Certification
- Internal and external audits (Compliance audits)
- Performance audits
- Operational audits.
External audits normally follow internal compliance audits. Internal audits are done to ensure you are fully compliant and ready before the costs of an external audit is incurred.
Continuous internal auditing is a core part of a Quality Management System to ensure that standards are maintained.
What does “conformity to ISO 9001” mean?
This means that you, or your supplier, has established a systematic approach to quality management and is managing the business to ensure that client needs are clearly understood, agreed, and fulfilled.
There are several ways in which a business can claim conformity to ISO 9001, and you need to ensure that the method chosen provides you with the necessary degree of confidence. A statement of conformity to ISO 9001 should also not be considered a substitute for a declaration or statement of product or service conformity.
A risk-avoidance approach
ISO 9001 adopts a risk-based (“preventive”) approach to quality that covers a wide range of topics, including:
Your business or supplier’s top management commitment to quality
its customer focus
the adequacy of its resources
employee competence
process management (for production, service delivery and relevant administrative and support processes)
quality planning
design of the products and services it provides
review of incoming orders
purchasing
the appropriate monitoring and measurement of its processes, products and services needed to ensure conformity
its processes to resolve customer complaints, corrective actions, and a requirement to drive improvement
Lastly, there is a requirement to monitor client perceptions about the quality of the products and services it provides.
Committing your business design, from business setup and startup to growth and maturity, to quality processes is a key business survival and success strategy. The importance of business process quality cannot be overstated.
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