http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F540AMODcjU Although lots of individuals believe this, the ISO 9001 certification it is not merely an exercise in putting together documents for the auditor to see before giving a certification. In the past, the ISO standard concentrated less on the outcome and required a lot of documentation. This is according to those who have worked with ISO for many years. A lot of business owners and managers considered this merely a basic overhead cost to the company with no measurable benefit.
Nonetheless, changes were just made to the ISO standard. This time, the focus is more on the improvement of business processes instead of compiling documentation for an auditor. The outcome is that achievements of certified companies today have a great impact and a lot of shareholders, workers, customers and even the top management see this. Efforts to improve both the business and customer requirements of a company have been made in this new "Process Approach".
Through working with lots of companies each year in achieving ISO 9001 certification since the year 2000, our consultants have used three basic rules for implementing ISO in order to achieve meaningful, measurable results from the investment:
For companies that implement ISO for the initial time, it is a mistake to make it very complicated. Job training, records and procedures nobody would look at could be the result of this error. You see people who implement the system would rather be "safe than sorry" because they really don't know what an auditor will look for. Besides adding to the current ISO certification cost, this will also not add any value to the business.
Therefore, try to limit the documentation and focus more on implementing those business requirements and what is required by the standard.
The next rule is to improve performance for both the business and the client and this can be achieved by improving the company's procedures. it is important to implement everything to support the requirements of the customers and according to the company's operations. Businesses can tailor their QMS to specifically meet their needs and still comply with the intention of the certification because the ISO standard utilize general language.
The general rule-of-thumb is to work with a specific requirement until you can see how it benefits your company and fits with the management approach of your organization.
Do not implement anything for the reason of just showing it to the auditor and this is the third guideline. If you have no other reason to implement something but to show the auditor then it is essential to apply rules one and two. You can develop and implement a system which will suit and add value to your business because ISO requirements are flexible. Be certain to review your ISO procedures and documentation with an eye on keeping it simple and adding business value. It is vital to do so if you want the auditor to be pleased.
