ISO 9001 2000, Getting Started on The Route To Registration

ISO 9001 2000, Getting started

Before starting the ISO 9001 2000 route to registration you will need to have the top management on board. This can be achieved by highlighting to top management the cost benefits to the business of ISO 9001 2000 registration.

If you feel unable to sell the benefits of ISO 9001 registration to your business or that you are unqualified to do this then it will be worth you contacting a consultant to assist you with this process. The consultant will have all the necessary tools and examples to hand.

Next you will need to consider what your business is trying to achieve, most businesses want to make money but as with all things there are many ways of achieving the same goal. Some businesses are very good at what they do but I have never yet encountered the perfect business.

If you feel there is no room for improvement in you business you may need to see your doctor about delusional thoughts.

(If you genuinely think you have the perfect business, be it ISO 9001 2000 related or otherwise please contact me at [admindriso.co.uk] and invite me to audit your business. Yes I do charge, albeit the normal daily rate.)

Okay, so you now know what your business is trying to achieve. I'm sure it will be something like:

"We aim to provide our customers with the best value (Widgets or service) on time, every time etc.

Well done, you have just written your companies Quality Management System Policy.

Next we have to look at how your business is going to work towards and then achieve its new Policy. A good starting point is to identify the objectives each department need to set in order to meet the requirements of your policy. Some typical examples for a Sales order process might be:

Reply to customer enquiries within 1 hours of receipt.

Update sales database with customer details before order acknowledgment.

After sales database entry send order acknowledgement on the same day as order received.

Send product catalogue to new customer on day of order receipt.

Run credit check on new customers before loading order to production schedule.

The process objectives can be documented in text format or as flow simple flow diagram. Many businesses now opt for a simple flow diagram because it dictates pictorially how a process works.

Great, you have now documented your first process. Next we need to consider what records to keep so that you can demonstrate the process objectives have been met. In the above example all the necessary records are kept on the sales database. The database automatically records the time between order entry, reply to customer, completion of customer details, acknowledgment sent, product catalogue sent, completion of credit check and loading of order to production schedule. The database will only allow things to be completed in a certain order; for example it will not allow the order to be loaded to the production schedule prior to an acceptable credit check being received. To ensure that only authorised people access the sales database it is password protected and it records the computer users ID against each sales database entry.

At the end of each week the sales manager runs an exception report to identify which targets have or have not been met, this gives him the opportunity to implement corrective action if the process is not being operated as planned. The corrective action may simply involve the re-allocation resources or additional employee training. You can of course run this process without a computer system by using a check-sheet where the process checkpoints are recorded. Using a paper-based system relies heavily on your business not entering into a blame culture, otherwise your employees may decide to falsify results rather than report a process failure. A business that operates a blame culture will never be successful, as there is no incentive for employees to report process errors and more importantly the business does not know where its processes are breaking down.

Excellent, you have documented a Quality Management System policy for your business, set departmental objectives needed to meet that policy and generated records which can be used for business process improvement.

Driso provide ISO 9001 2000 consultancy, auditing, software, and training Services. They also supply Easy ISO 9001 2000® software for initially setting up an ISO 9001 2000 compliant Quality Management System or improving upon an existing one.

To contact Driso Consultancy Services visit the web site below and see what they can do for you and your business. Contact: http://www.driso.co.uk for more details.

---

Managers? Biggest Blunders

Nobody's perfect, including the boss. Managers, we polled recently, acknowledged... Read More

Avoid Outsourcing Pitfalls in the Injection Molds and Stamping Dies Markets

When looking to outsource overseas for Plastic Injection Molds or... Read More

14 Ways to De-Stress Employee Vacations

Employees truly deserve paid vacations. Theystruggle through stressful jobs most... Read More

CEOs And Boards Are Locked In A Spiral Of Doom

American CEOs are dropping like flies. Boards, armed with new... Read More

Action Learning: Its More Than OJT

For centuries companies have used on-the-job training (OJT). OJT works... Read More

What Every Manager Should Know About How to Become An Effective Executive

In his book, The Effective Executive, Peter Drucker pointed out... Read More

ISO 9001 Okay Now You Have It How Do You Market It?

Marketing ISO 9001 2000.Lately we've been seeing a lot of... Read More

Why Half of All Mergers Fail After the Honeymoon Ends

Marriages and corporate mergers in America have at least one... Read More

Integrity... Should It Matter?

In our fast paced work culture, manned by technology savvy... Read More

Tales from the Corporate Frontlines: The Role of Character in Leadership

This article relates to the Senior /Top Level Management competency,... Read More

Behavioral Extensions and Its Implications at Workplaces

The study of Behavioral extension involves investigating the source of... Read More

What Every HR Manager Should Know About Hiring Productive Employees

The characteristics of job applicants have a strong influence on... Read More

Organizational Structure, Creativity, Innovation

Organizational structure can inhibit or foster creativity and innovation. The... Read More

Problem Solving - Think Cleopatras Ass

Picture the scene. Anthony pops down to the guardhouse, partly... Read More

The Art of Motivation and Need Fulfillment

Industrial/clinical psychology and applied psychiatry have made tremendous strides in... Read More

People Literacy

Every Manager has experienced the frustration of not understanding why... Read More

Is Your Brain Getting the Memory Full Message? 5 Ways to Free Up Room on Your Brains Hard Drive

Lynn was tapped to head up the project team for... Read More

Problem-Solving Success Tip: Measure the Right Things.

Measure the right things. It's not enough just to measure-you... Read More

Balancing Power in Outsource Contract Agreements

The practice of outsourcing business processes has long been subject... Read More

Implementation the Catalyst of Change for Management to Reach that Next Level of Success

From the personal and professional experiences of other colleagues and... Read More

Creativity Management and Time Pressure

There is a pervasive belief that time pressure stimulates creativity.... Read More

Why You Should Hold One More Meeting

If you are completely happy with where you and your... Read More

Stopping The Brain Drain: How To Capture Key Business Knowledge Before It Walks Out The Door

The verdict is in: More and more baby boomers will... Read More

Take Your Firm to the Next Level

So you did such a good job in 2003 at... Read More

The Survey Feedback Process for Organizational Development and Change

THE PURPOSE OF SURVEY FEEDBACK:In globally competitive environments, organizations are... Read More

Loyalty, Motivation And Work-Life Balance

Managers who aren't loyal to their people can't expect loyalty... Read More

Productive Meetings: How to Make Your Meetings More Productive

There's one simple secret to effective meetings: set an agenda... Read More

Book Summary: Mind Your Own Business

A maverick is an independent person who will not go... Read More

Innovation Management: The Power of Emotional Attachment

Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation... Read More

Building Shareholder Value Through Your People

Increasing shareholder value is the most important driver for organisations... Read More

Innovation Management ? Producing Great Products, Motivation

Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation... Read More

Sarbanes-Oxley and Section 404: Old Dog, New Teeth

The failures we have seen in the quality and integrity... Read More

Managing Workplace Conflicts

Kinds of Workplace ConflictsLet's start by identifying where conflicts happen.... Read More