ISO 9001 consultancy procedure

A poorly designed Quality Management System (QMS) can cause financial burden on the organisation, and become detrimental to its progress. Additionally, an inefficient QMS can make it difficult for the organisation to keep its customers satisfied and attain its business goals. However, if the QMS is implemented and developed effectively, it can have immediate as well as long-term benefits including improved customer satisfaction, increased operational efficiency, exceeding business objectives, lower management system administrative burden, lesser management redundancy and better integration of quality management principles.

An ISO consultant can assist in the development of the QMS, thereby guaranteeing its long-term success. In this article, we will talk about how ISO consultants can assess, design, and assist you in developing your QMS.

Benefits of ISO 9001 consulting

Although, it is not impossible to develop a QMS without help, however, an unguided QMS implementation usually leads to suboptimal results. ISO 9001 consultants can benefit your organisation by quickly applying their knowledge to your unique circumstances. As a result of their expertise, the best practises of your industry would be implemented in your management system. 

Practically, the benefits of QMS consulting would be seen as:

• Reduction in the number of customer complaints.
• Reduction in the number of operational defects. 
• Exceeding the objectives of the organisation.
• Enhanced ability to identify as well as explore business opportunities.
• Decreased QMS development and implementation time.
• Ability to recognise future needs of your customers and market trends.

The in-depth knowledge of ISO 9001 consultants can significantly impact the design and ability of your QMS to meet your business goals.

There is a popular saying, “There is no substitute for experience,” and this statement is extremely relevant when talking about ISO 9001 consultants. Yes, business owners can attempt to build their own QMS, however, there is no guarantee that the QMS will be efficient. Thankfully, when you utilise the services of an experienced and well-reputed ISO 9001 consultant, the quality, efficiency, reliability, functionality and sustainability of your QMS is guaranteed.

Explaining ISO 9001 consultancy procedure

Good ISO 9001 consultants utilise a proven implementation method based on project management strategies. Such a structured approach begins by defining the project plan, and allocating specific responsibilities, so that the verification of results can be done. The goal of consultants is to develop an effective implementation strategy that provides first time compliance to ISO 9001 requirements, without wasting any time or resources of the organisation.

ISO 9001 methodology

The methodology for ISO 9001 consulting includes:

1. Executive management overview planning.
2. Gap assessment.
3. Documentation control.
4. Implementation and training.
5. Internal assessment and management review.
6. Third party registration assessment. 
7. Sustaining the improvement.

Executive management overview planning

During the planning stage of the executive management overview, ISO 9001 consultants will define the context of the organisation as well as the requirements of the interested parties. Here, the QMS scope will be defined by highlighting high-level processes in a system map. This will provide high-level project plan descriptions as well as descriptions of high-level risks, helping them define organisational objectives and targets.

This plan would be communicated across the organisation in addition to the requirements of the standard. Communicating these requirements is a process approach to quality management that helps achieve outcomes by managing the interaction of different systems.

ISO 9001 gap assessment

In the second step, namely the gap assessment, ISO 9001 consultants will perform a gap assessment of the current QMS against the requirements of the ISO 9001 standard. Your QMS will be used as a map to see how processes interact with each other. This will allow them to perform assessments with process owners and document results. These results can be later utilised as inputs for process development. Additionally, by utilising these results, the project plans, communication plans and training plans are developed.

Documentation control of QMS

In the third stage, ISO 9001 consultants aim to achieve documentation control. Firstly, they will create level one policy documents, and involve leadership in all stages of the policy development. Here, the consultants would evaluate your QMS versus the ISO 9001 requirements. Process approach would be utilised to develop your QMS processes and define roles as well as responsibilities. Document control would be determined by reviewing ISO 9001 requirements and reviewing nomenclatures utilised in the organisation.

ISO 9001 implementation and training phase

Next, in the ISO 9001 implementation and training phase, each process will be defined and the amount of detail will depend upon the process risk. Current non-conformances within the processes would be identified and mitigated. Training would be provided to the employees, management as well as functional area owners. The ISO 9001 consultant would also provide internal assessment training to current assessors within the organisation, so that assessment can continue even after their contract is over.

Internal assessment and management review

This will lead to the internal assessment and management review phase, where the internal assessment planning based on the quality system maps would be done. After obtaining and analysing all process output data, it will be summarised and presented in a management review.

Sustaining the improvement

During the compliance/third-party registration assessment, any open items will be closed and corrective actions would be implemented. This will allow you to sustain the continual improvement that is achieved through the QMS.

Conclusion

ISO 9001 consultancy procedure includes seven phases, namely executive planning, gap assessment, documentation control, implementation and training, internal assessment and management review, third-party registration assessment and sustaining the improvement.