Understand What the Key Principles of a Good Quality Management System Are
Thousands of organizations are seeking to implement their Quality Management System (QMS) by adhering to the requirements of the ISO 9001 standard, which is the highest international standard for quality management. It has been increasingly adopted by businesses of all types today because it helps them to establish the credibility of their products/services and their commitment to quality. However, to implement the standard, you need to know what the principles of successful quality management are. There is no one principle for quality management, but it is a combination of many subordinate concepts together. The requirements of ISO 9001 are based on those concepts, or more widely the principle of quality management. Therefore, an organization looking to establish a QMS needs to consider these concepts first.
Key Fundamentals to Build Your ISO 9001 Compliant Quality Management System
Customer-centric Approach
This is undeniably the first requirement of quality management for any organization. Having a strong customer-centric approach is the prime way you can demonstrate your organization’s commitment to maintaining the quality of its products or services. Keeping your focus on the customers also helps to assure higher satisfaction and convert them to be repeat customers. To better satisfy your customers, collecting their feedback using planned methods is essential. It is helpful to find any nonconformities in your products or services, as well as expectations that are not met. Accordingly, you can take action to modify your processes and quality controls so that the products or services are improved.
Also, the sustained success of your organization depends on the level of customer satisfaction. The higher their satisfaction, the higher their loyalty and chances of repeat purchases. This leads to an increase in your revenue and share in the market. In short, the customer-centric approach directly benefits the bottom line of your business.
Management Commitment or Leadership
Strong leadership by the management of your organization is inherent in establishing a QMS. The management should commit to lead the implementation as well as execution of the quality procedures. Leadership is also necessary to establish a clear vision and objectives regarding quality assurance. The vision needs to be communicated effectively to all members or employees of the organization at all levels. It is only then that they can work together towards the same vision and objectives.
Steady leadership and continuous involvement of management help in creating a shared purpose and culture of quality. Every employee is therefore directed to achieve the purpose and is highly motivated to achieve it.
Uniform Participation of People
Involving the members of the organization in operation of QMS is essential for achieving the ISO 9001 standard. A QMS is laid out as a comprehensive system that integrates all processes of the organization. Therefore, within your organization, everyone should contribute to operating the QMS or following the quality management procedures. There should be open discussion of issues and sharing of roles and responsibilities between the employees and management team. This helps in ensuring that your organization fully benefits from the implemented QMS. Assured engagement of people is also essential to achieve the ISO certification finally by demonstrating the strong uniform commitment of your whole organization to enhancing the quality.
Process-based Approach
The concept of a process-based approach is necessary for any ISO standard. It implies the QMS should operate as an interrelated part of all other processes of the organizations. Therefore, predictable and reliable results can only be achieved by your QMS when it is coordinated well with the interrelated processes. In other words, the QMS along with the interrelated processes should work as a coherent system of your organization with the purpose of improving quality.
Moreover, the process approach is vital to make sure that the outcomes of the QMS are produced by incorporating all processes, interactions, and resources of the organization. It ensures that all these are properly managed to optimize the quality performance.
Evidence-based Decision Making
Implementation of the QMS should help your organization to base its decisions regarding quality management on assured facts or evidence. Accurate and valid data about your processes, customers, and market situations is necessary to make informed decisions for further quality improvement.
For instance, if there is any non-conformity in the products/services or processes, it should be evaluated to identify the root cause. It is hence essential to ensure that all evidence and information are properly available to those who need it whenever required. Also, there should be channels of open communication between employees and the management team so that they can share any information readily and make decisions jointly.
Relationship Management
The QMS should be able to foster relationships not only with customers but also with suppliers and other stakeholders. This part of the principle implies that the relationships between your organization and suppliers must be mutually beneficial. It should add value not only to your organization but also to every stakeholder. Maintaining great relationships with the stakeholders also helps in developing a common understanding of the quality management objectives and core values among them. Therefore, it creates a sense of responsibility in them. They would then want to contribute to the success of your QMS by sharing their abilities and resources, and by addressing the quality risks that originate at their individual levels.
Continual Improvement
The last but most significant of the quality management principles is the drive to continual improvement within the organization. Continual improvement is required for achieving compliance to ISO 9001 and so it should be a primary objective of your quality management team and employees. Continual improvement can be achieved by implementing processes like internal audits that help in identifying the risks as well as opportunities in the QMS procedures. Subsequently, your organization can spot inconsistencies in the QMS or non-conformities in it against ISO 9001. Conducting planned and periodic management reviews are also required for continual improvement. They should be conducted by dedicated officials from the management team. By thoroughly monitoring your QMS, they will find ways to improve its processes and make it more effective.
Key Takeaway
Knowing the principles of successful quality management are essential to make sure that all seven of the concepts are incorporated into the QMS. Incorporating these is necessary to empower your organization with good practices of quality management, engagement of employees, fostering a culture of quality, and driving improvement.
The ISO 9001 standard does not only underpin how a quality system works in businesses but also helps them to have a streamlined approach for total quality management. By ensuring the implementation of a consistent and ISO certified QMS, you can improve efficiency, save costs, and develop more potential for growth in the market.
Need any assistance for your quality management system? Get in touch with Compliancehelp Consulting LLC. We are a reputed certification agency and strive to offer widespread services to businesses to get them certified with ISO standards including ISO 9001.