Quality
Management Consulting
What is
Quality and what is a Quality Management System?
We can define quality as the degree
to which a set of characteristics applies to a given requirement.
Going a step further, we can say that quality represents customer
(internal or otherwise) and partner satisfaction.
A Quality Management System is the
set of processes, procedures, organizational structure and
resources needed to implement quality management.
What are the
Quality Management System goals?
We can say the QMS goals are:
-
To increase customer
satisfaction.
-
To build an organizational view
of its processes.
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To assure continuous process
improvement.
-
Measure and grade the performance
and effectiveness of each process.
-
Continuously monitor customer
satisfaction.
It is worth highlighting that the
adoption of a QMS is a strategical decision and that its
development and implementation is specific to each
organization.
What are the
benefits in adopting a Quality Management System?
There are many benefits in
implementing ISO 9001. The main one is the competitive edge that an
ISO 9001 certified organization earns.
Being certified is an
acknowledgement, both national and international, of its good
management practices and customer and supplier relationships.
Furthermore, it allows for greater development of its employees,
aids in the quest for total quality and provides conditions for
increased competitiveness by optimizing processes and reducing
costs.
Why competitive edge? By being
certified, the organization achieves:
-
Better product/service
performance and, as a consequence, greater consumer
satisfaction.
-
Systematic planning and control
of work processes, cutting work duplication and gaining
agility.
-
Cost reduction (by achieving
greater productivity).
-
Improvements in employee
communication, drive and satisfaction.
-
More market opportunities since
many private and government companies only do business with
certified suppliers.
-
Company image improvements.
-
Risk reduction and better
investor relationships.
-
Supplier influence by demanding
more precise specifications and more rigid quality
parameters.
How to start a
certification process?
An organization that wants to start
an ISO 9001 certification must follow certain steps and meet the
ISO 9001 requirements.
A sentence that many consultants
say when asked if achieving an ISO 9001 certification is hard is:
«Note all that your organization do, be sure to do it, and write it
down.»
This process can last from a couple
of months to a couple of years (and, in some cases, even more)
depending on the size and management involvement.
Usually the first stages of the
process (the pre-certification steps) are done by specialized
consultants. The certification in itself is up to independent
certification companies as, for instance, Bureau Veritas Quality
International, APCER, SGS and EIC, among others.
What do I have to do in
order to implement a Quality Management System?
We have qualified and certified consultants that provide
training, implementation and audit services.
Our approach starts with the design of the QMS, follows with
training and internal auditing, and ends in the certification.
We also provide QMS monitoring and maintenance after
certification - by us or our competitors.
Contact us.