Although the various ISO Management systems are referred to as Quality, Environmental or Occupation Health and Safety systems for ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 respectively, they all have a number of characteristics and underlying principles in common. Ultimately, they are all based on solid Business Management principles, and by implementing any of these systems, your company will enjoy a number of benefits.
Some of the benefits include being able to get new customers, keeping existing customers happy and preventing them from going to the competition, improving the quality of both your products and services, reducing waste and last but not least, saving money.
Many companies however resist implementing any of these systems. Although many reasons for this are cited, there are a number of common misconceptions that we’ll clear up in this article.
- Auditors looking at a Business Management System are out to find things our employees do wrong.
Auditors looking at a Business Management System focus on the organization’s processes and don’t look at individual employee performance. Auditors can actually be a great resource in advising you how to improve what you’re doing by helping you simplifying and streamlining your processes. It’s often a case of not being able to see the woods for the trees, and an outsider’s perspective might well spot glaring inconsistencies that might otherwise not be noted. While following the objectives of the Business Management System is the responsibility of everyone, evaluating of current practices by external auditors is intended to be objective and nonjudgmental.
- The amount of paperwork and documentation required for a Management System is so much that it will only end up costing me money.
For any business to run properly, a certain amount of paperwork and documentation is required. When you implement a system based on one of the ISO standards, the number of documented procedures required depends on the size of the company, as well as its requirements from an operational viewpoint. Yes, it is true that adding documents or documented procedures merely to satisfy the requirements of a standard is counterproductive and does not add any value. The documents required by ISO are however not selected randomly, but were rather included to improve the company’s operations in multiple areas. If you implement the requirements correctly, the company, its employees and customers will all benefit. Your internal processes will be consistent and transparent, and you will eliminate costs and avoid mistakes. The benefits will definitely far outweigh the time and effort taken to implement and maintain the documentation.
- Our customers are pushing us to implement a Business Management System, but we don’t see a ROI
If you don’t fully commit, but implement a Business Management System due to external pressure, you are not likely to see any ROI. An effective Business Management System implemented properly and for the right reasons can save the company time, money and resources, and also assist you in preventing expensive mistakes. Before you query the whether a Business Management System will be profitable or not, ask yourself if you are implementing one that reflects your stated purpose or are simply doing it for someone else’s sake? ISO is a powerful tool that can deliver amazing results when used appropriately.
- It cost too much to implement and maintain a Business Management System
Various studies clearly indicate that preventing problems is most often less expensive than fixing them after they happen. An effective Business Management system prevent problems if it is implemented and maintained correctly. If the system does however not have buy-in from all employees, and specifically top management, it will have little or no value to your company and might well result in additional costs, and also distract you from your core business activities. The bottom line is that you have to be fully committed to do things properly and correctly before you’ll be able to realize any benefits.
ISO 9001 quality management systems (QMS) are implemented using MyEasyISO software in Cartagena (Colombia ), while ISO 14001 & OHSAS 18001 Health Safety Management Systems (HSE) are implemented with MyEasyISO in Zanzibar Town (Tanzania).
