How to Avoid Bad ISO 9001 Implementation?
3 min readYes, in many manufacturing facilities, ISO 9001 is useless. It is mainly because of the following reasons:
- Inadequate auditing: This happens because implementers have a poor understanding of processes and the vital things and standard law enforcement by many registrar bodies.
- Poor implementation: This happens mainly because of the shortcuts taken by managers.
Are you wondering about how you will uncover this in a factory? There are signs of a bad ISO 9001 implementation, and here we are discussing 10 of them.
- The most basic and straightforward ISO 9001 necessities are not followed:
Optimum implementation of ISO 9001 requires:
The must-have organization resources for monitoring and measuring that are:
- a) appropriate for the specific type of measurement and monitoring tasks being undertaken
- b) maintained to make sure the continuing fitness for their objective
As evidence of fitness, the organization shall retain the required documented information to measure and monitor resources’ objective.
Some workers do not even pay attention to the primary requirements when you see that a quality manager does not know how to defend himself and what to say or when a calliper is without a calibration certificate. This is why factory audit in China is crucial.
- There are generic templates which are not customized to the company’s processes
The turnkey consultant found in abundance worldwide can adapt an existing system in a company or sometimes, they end up merely pretending. Adaption work is not a permanent solution because it is not done in detail; it is done in a rush. This is useless and dangerous for the growth of the company.
Are you wondering about what is the best approach? It is to follow a logical process to develop the quality management system for the beginning. The best way is to identify the principal risks and opportunities as well as customer needs. You can set objectives and document processes.
- Important documents are kept in a drawer in a printed form
Once a document is printed, they are no longer alive. This means that you can not update them regularly like an approved supplier list. Once they are kept in a drawer, they can be used by employees; they will not be available to the employees.
We believe that these documents are developed just for a show or for those auditors who never scratch below the surface.
- Employees refer “ISO stuff” as a mere paperwork
They see these papers as a way to attain certification and nothing else. Again, this is harmful to the companies! This ultimately teaches employees to plot things, lie, cover up the truth and so on. These things are not at all healthy.
- The quality manager should be asked about all the questions related to the management system
Are they the only ones who are capable of answering?
Are the top management and internal auditors not responsible for this? They should also have an understanding of quality management.
Even the process owners should know how their work relates to the overall system.
- The records of the processes are required to be searched by the concerned people
When someone works on a specific process and produce records, they will know where to find the documents. When they find it difficult, then it indicates that records are not trustworthy.
- Nobody looks at the charts
Sometimes, charts are printed and put up on the walls with statistics. Most of the time, these data are fake, and no one looks at the border to read charts. This is why quality inspection services in China are essential.
- There are only text and no flow charts in the procedures and work instructions
No one, especially the operators like to read a wall full of text. So, drawing flow charts is a more fruitful way to attract employees. This is because it is visual and easy to understand. This helps in speeding up the training process and engages the employees with more efficiency.
- Often the flow charts represented are not logical
Sometimes, the person drawing the flow charts do not pay critical attention to the details. The employees do not read it with complete attention which makes the feedback process difficult.
- Open issues list is not there
It is not a must, but it is difficult for a company to keep moving without a list of open issues. A structured form and a record of to-do-list are highly essential. These are quite necessary for quality control in China.
What is your opinion?
Is there any other sign which you want to share?