What are ISO 9001 principles?

ISO 9001 is a well-known international standard for building an effective Quality Management System (QMS). This is one of the most widely used standards for improving performance and quality across the globe. The process-driven, systematic and uniform standard approach helps to govern quality objectives and ensure continual improvement. This article will help you understand ISO 9001 principles to make ISO 9001 implementation more straightforward for you. 

Introduction of ISO 9001 principles in Australia

ISO standards are designed to handle a variety of business concerns. The ISO 9001 standard is specifically designed to enhance quality management for various enterprises. The standard helps organizations define requirements for meeting customer needs and enhancing customer satisfaction rather than just sticking to product specifications. This is because the standard believes that your product’s sale depends on meeting the customer’s needs. At the core of ISO 9001 are seven fundamental quality management principles.

What are the quality management principles of ISO 9001?

The quality management principles of ISO 9001 include: 

Customer focus

ISO 9001 helps organizations evaluate their objectives and initiatives to better meet customer requirements. By keeping the customer focus approach at the organization’s core, this principle helps organizations improve product performance and customer service. The standard helps organizations identify their customer needs, separate them from expectations and helps them put a system in place. That allows customer complaints to be systematically logged in. This allows for systematic evaluation, so that appropriate corrective actions can be taken.

 Leadership

ISO 9001 understands that only when leaders demonstrate transformational capabilities and embrace a quality-first culture can the employees do the same. This is why the standard urges leaders to showcase their commitment to quality improvement by creating a quality policy that aligns with the organization’s strategic direction and is fit for the purpose of their products/services. Additionally, leaders are encouraged to demonstrate their commitment to quality improvement by providing adequate resources to the employees to perform their tasks well. This includes providing training to improve their competencies and clarity wherever ambiguity exists.

 Engagement of people

Employee engagement goes hand-in-hand with leadership commitment. You have to start with your top management team and then move down through all levels of the organization, giving each employee a voice in how they want things done. If the top management does not do this, they isolate and alienate their employees. As a result, the management will distance themselves from what is happening in their company. Often, employees are the first to spot issues and the first to suggest innovative solutions. Additionally, employee engagement is correlated to enhance employee productivity, as employees feel a part of the organization when their opinions are welcomed.

 Process approach

The process approach is the foundation of ISO 9001. It is a way to ensure that you are doing what you need to do to meet customer requirements, regulatory requirements and other requirements. The process approach begins by ensuring that your organization has sufficient resources to achieve its objectives. This includes ensuring that all employees have the necessary skills, knowledge and experience relevant to the role. It also ensures confirming that the quality objectives are attainable and realistic. As a result of the process approach, quality objectives are carried out safely, within budget and on time.

Improvement

ISO 9001 is a standard that allows you to improve your processes and products over time. Continuous improvement is embracing the philosophy of doing things right and finding ways to improve them year after year. This means that the organization should make more improvements compared to previous years. This is why the standard urges top management to conduct regular evaluations to uncover hidden risks. Moreover, the standard does not look at risk as a hostile entity but also highlights the possibility of a risk transforming into a positive opportunity.

Evidence-based decision making

The term “evidence-based decision-making” refers to using evidence and quantitative data. This can be applied in any business context, but it is advantageous when trying to improve your bottom line or effectiveness. Evidence-based decision-making involves using evidence from research and data analysis to inform your decisions. The standard urges top management to utilize key metrics wherever possible and eliminate guesswork from their equations.

Relationship management

The relationship management process is a critical element of ISO 9001. You must manage relationships with all your stakeholders, including customers, suppliers and employees.

Relationship management is a continuous process that begins with identifying key stakeholders and extends to post-production assessment. Relationship management can be summed up as “how well do we relate?” As such, organizations need to recognize their strengths in this area and where they need improvement, so they can create strategies for improving their performance over time.

You can refer to the ISO 9001 certification page to get an ISO 9001 certificate in Australia.

 Conclusion 

The seven quality management principles in ISO 9001 are leadership, continuous improvement, relationship management, employee engagement, process approach, customer focus and evidence-based thinking.