Overview of quality systems and ISO 9001

Consistently meeting the customer's expectations and providing customer satisfaction is common sense and is essential for all organisations. The implementation of ISO 9001 can help to achieve this. If done correctly, the implementation of ISO 9001 can improve the efficiency of internal systems and improve the consistency of application of the systems across employees. 

Implementing an ISO 9001 compliant  quality system should not be a bureaucratic exercise and should not proliferate useless documentation. 

Four simple stages describe an effective quality system. Stage 1 is a key part of developing the system. "Say what you do" means defining quality policy, setting yourself some measurable quality objectives, describing your organisation's processes in a set of simple flow charts or procedures.

Although ISO 9001:2000 only requires 6 procedures (control of documents and records, auditing, nonconformity, corrective and preventive action) a small to medium sized organisation could have around 10 flow/charted processes or procedures, each of which should only be one A4 page. Including the quality manual, A total of 20 to 30 pages is all that is required. An example of a typical flow charted process developed by Hawkstone Consultants is a available to view.

Stage 2, "Do what you say", involves getting everyone to follow the flow charted process as laid down.

Stage 3, "Record what you do", is about providing objective evidence that is used to demonstrate that something has been done correctly and to enable future analysis and monitoring of processes. It is not about producing meaningless documentation.

Stage 4, "Monitor, evaluate and improve what you do", is all about continuous improvement. Something all organisations need to do just to stay in business. It's about measuring your performance against your objectives and whether you are providing customer satisfaction. Its not about looking backwards, its about being proactive and looking forward. Its about getting better. It's about being effective, not just following procedures. If implemented correctly, an ISO 9001 system provides that impetus. Organisations should look in ISO 9004:2000 for information and good examples on how to achieve continual improvement.

Another way of looking at the ISO 9001 quality system model is shown below. 

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   Last modified: May 16th,  2007