Overview

Companies all over the world need levels of assurance from their supply chains that they are working with high quality, trusted and reliable organisations; moreover, they also need to provide assurance to their customers that they themselves are sustainable, trustworthy and able to deliver their services and products.

To provide that assurance of quality, the most trusted method is using the ISO Management system standards; these ISO Standards, recognised internationally, assure your interested parties of your company’s commitment to:

• Satisfy your customers’ requirements
• Improve continually
• Comply with legal and other requirements (e.g. contractual, regulatory and voluntary requirements)

There are 15 commonly used ISO Standards used by organisations, which cover a wide range of topics: from how your organisation manages safety, to environmental issues and carbon, to information security. However, the ISO Standard for Quality (ISO 9001) is the most used, with nearly 850,000 organisations getting certified by officially recognised bodies in 2024. This makes it the most widely recognised international standard for quality management available.

ISO 9001 provides an excellent framework for organisations who want to improve their performance, comply with relevant legal and other requirements, and meet customer needs. The ISO 9001 Standard is applicable to any organisation, no matter the size or sector.

A core fundamental of ISO 9001 are the 7 fundamental principles which the Standard is built on; these are useful to any organisation and anyone developing a business would do well to apply them. This article will discuss these principles, highlighting their relevance and ways in which they can be incorporated into organisations.

1) Customer Focus

ISO 9001 puts customers at the heart of decision making. Ensuring that customer satisfaction is understood will focus the organisation on the customer. Success with ISO 9001 requires an in-depth understanding of who your customers are and what they need from your product.

Customers’ needs change over time; organisations need to pay attention to what the customer needs now, and what they need in the future. This enables processes, products and services to develop to those requirements and ensure continued customer satisfaction. To see how much customers value your products and service, measuring customer feedback over time is a great indicator as to what areas require improvement and what works well.

2) Leadership

Successful quality management is achieved with successful leadership. Strong communication throughout the organisation, as well as externally with customers and other interested parties, is a key characteristic of this.

ISO 9001 sets out high expectations of senior management teams. This ensures good leadership, which can then be shown to be establishing a culture of responsibility, integrity and respect within an organisation, where contributions are valued and acknowledged.

3) Engagement of People

Higher rates of improvement are closely linked to employee satisfaction and fulfilment. Having a job that feels rewarding drives higher productivity, which makes it a crucial factor for success.

A few great ways of improving engagement are to promote collaboration, open discussion and taking initiative to employees throughout the business.

In addition, engaging with your customers and other interested parties, such as sector bodies and representative bodies like the Chambers of Commerce will provide a company with useful and relevant insights that could help improve the organisation, its products and its services.

4) Process Approach

The process approach uses the principle of Continual Improvement. Organisations using ISO 9001 are encouraged to follow a Plan-Do-Check-Act regime, which ensures that they deliberately set out a plan for what they want to achieve, then periodically review their performance and act on the findings to improve or resolve any issues that arise.

All processes are related through an organisation and this process allows you to systemically work through everything you do as an organisation. Using ‘Risk Based thinking’ to plan your work, you can focus on the issues that cause you problems in the first instance and work it out from there!

5) Focus on Improvement

Continual improvement drives success. This makes it a vital focus point for any organisation and a priority for ISO 9001.

Continual improvement could mean that individual processes and products are improved, but more importantly, it means building a culture of improvement. This is where engaged employees, who are fully competent and aware of what the company is trying to achieve, work together to make the business stronger.

6) Evidence-Based Decision Making

To make decisions that have a higher chance of producing your desired results, the use of evidence-based decision making should be present for all decisions within an organisation. It is especially applicable to ISO 9001.

Collect the right data, which can be analysed to make informed decisions based on facts and figures. This will ensure that management teams and workers make informed decisions that will lead to improvements.

7) Relationship Management

External relationships are critical to ensure sustained success. Organisations with reliable and trusted supply chains are better placed to deliver, especially in times of hardship and duress.

ISO 9001 promotes organisations to build strong relationships with customers, suppliers and other interested parties. Relationship building enables trust, and increased levels of information sharing and resource use, which can help to build better business processes.

The Key to Success

Understanding the principles set out above is a great way of working towards a successful management system. With ISO 9001, you can expect improved performance, meeting customer expectations, and a demonstration of your commitment to quality.

ISO Compliance Register can help you on your compliance journey. Whether you need help with legal compliance or have ISO standards as your goal, we have the resources and support your organisation needs. Our ISO Compliance Register tool puts you in control of compliance management. It is suited to organisations of all sizes, in any sector.

Find out more via our website: https://isocomplianceregister.co.uk/