Archive for August 17th, 2009
How to ensure an effective ISO 9001 implementation
1. The requirements of the standard need to be understood; this may mean sending key employees to an ISO lead auditor course or general ISO training.
2. The company should define its own management system; this may require guidance from a business consulting firm.
3. After a business management system is defined, the company needs to own and defend its management system; this means it is okay to question and analyze conflicting information from outside parties.
4. It needs to be understood that the ISO 9001 system is in place to help a company continually improve. If valid nonconformance is found in a quality management system (verified by analysis), this opportunity should be embraced to improve processes. Processes should be improved in such a way that does not just fix the immediate problem, but really identifies the root cause and initiates effective corrective action to the process.