The ISO quality management system has been out in the industry for many decades. Over this time, it gained lots of support from the industry as the recipe for success. In addition to that, ISO 9001 was associated with many misconceptions and maybe even myths. Some of these misconceptions have evolved from older versions of ISO 9001. Still, since the late '80s, the ISO 9001 had five significant modifications that have acted as continuous improvement to polish the system and maintain the reputation that it is the recommended quality management system framework to follow.
If one would ask peer professionals why they are not for ISO 9001:2015, you will get many answers, where all of them are just myths or maybe baggage from previous ISO 9001 editions. Some of the most common misconceptions:
The real benefits of ISO 9001 only apply to large manufacturing businesses
Quality management systems don't add value, but you have to have one if it's a customer requirement.
ISO 9001 quality management system is costly to implement and maintain and we can't afford it considering the size of our company
ISO 9001 is outdated, and it was designed for the way business worked in the late '80s and '90s.
Management system standards do not guarantee product quality or ROI
My customer is already inspecting and auditing my organization and our products, so I shouldn't need to adopt a management system and have it certified
We can discuss these myths in detail in another article, but the most common misconceptions for ISO 9001:2015 is PAPERWORK!
A tremendous amount of documentation and paperwork will be required distracting the company from its core activities. And this ton of paperwork should be assigned to the quality manager or quality department; For small organizations, that will be even harder. Assembling a quality manual and also listing and tracking all measuring equipment for calibration will be part of the paperwork, which will end up costing the company more money. Implementing these documents will force the organization to change the way we do things. This paperwork will also force the organization to be rigid and loses its flexibility and innovation.
The short answer for all of the above is NO; it is a myth
"ISO 9001:15 mainly cares about processes, not the paperwork"
ISO 9001:2015 has got leaner and more practical than the previous version. ISO 9001:15 mainly cares about processes, not the paperwork. And as the organization is up and running, that means that the organization has processes in place. Then the only thing needed for compliance is objective evidence to show that these processes are in place. The objective evidence can be any document that the company is already using to schedule, track, or communicate among its workforce. In most cases, a significant proportion of the needed objective evidence will be already there, and creating the missing ones will benefit the organization more, and help it to improve its internal processes.
"When used properly, can save the company a significant amount of money"
For example, it is highly likely that your company looks for faults and ensures that all the finished products are free of defects. But if your company doesn't have a piece of objective evidence that tracks and monitors errors, creating such document(s) not only will comply with the ISO 9001:2015 requirements, but also will allow the company to collect the data needed to improve its process. With data on hand, the company will be able to identify the types, frequencies, and root causes of these defects. It will also allow prioritizing improvement efforts to focus on high impact issues first (the significant few) and not waste time on minor issues (trivial many). Just this document will allow the company to save a substantial amount of rework, scrap, working hours, and inspection. In other words, this document only, when used properly, can save the company a significant amount of money.
“One of Techam Solutions' clients was a one-person machine shop that got certified”
ISO 9001:2015 can be distinguished from the previous versions by its focus on risk-based thinking, leadership participation, and documentation requirements. ISO 9001:2015 is for all activity types, not just manufacturing. ISO 9001:2015 is not just for a large organization, it can be adapted to any organization regardless of its size. In fact, one of the Techam Solutions' clients was a one-person machine shop that got certified. ISO 9001:2015 is a very flexible framework that will pave the road for continuous improvement and innovation.
ISO 9001:2015 doesn't mandate to have your quality department to manage and maintain your certification requirements, but it allows for outsourcing this part to professionals who are experts in this field. That will reduce the hassle to a minimum, and above all, will enable your company to take full advantage of the ISO 9001:2015 in terms of internal process improvement and to improve the bottom line. Techam Solutions, with its highly experienced team, has been assisting its client in their certification journey for many years, allowing them to explore new capabilities and winning new opportunities.