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Ekos Consulting Limited - ISO 9000

Leading and operating an organization successfully requires managing it in a systematic and visible manner. Success should result from implementing and maintaining a management system that is designed to continually improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the organization's performance by considering the needs of interested parties. Managing an organization includes quality management, among other management disciplines.

ISO 9004: 2000, 4.1

Surveys of ISO 9000 registered companies indicate:

  • Increased sales
  • Expanded market share
  • Improved efficiency
  • Less wastage
  • Increased customer satisfaction
  • Reduced costs
  • Improved consistency
  • Improved planning
  • Increased profits

The ISO 9000 family of standards has gained rapid acceptance since it was first published in 1987. In 1993, 55 countries recognized the ISO 9000 Series as a national standard. By 1996, that number had increased to more than 90 countries. This rapid acceptance of the ISO 9000 standards is due to a number of factors. It is likely that any decision to implement an ISO 9000 quality system will be influenced by one or more of the following factors:

  1. Businesses that have implemented an ISO 9000 quality system report that they have benefited by improved product reliability, shortened cycle times, reduction in scrap and rework, and improved customer satisfaction. In most cases, businesses also reported lower operating costs and an increase in market share.
  2. A trend has been noticed that businesses experience a significant increase in market share when they are first within their industry to become registered to ISO 9000. Most businesses that are in the first 20% of their industry to become registered to ISO 9000 were aware of this trend.
  3. Many businesses decide to implement an ISO 9000 quality system or become registered to the standard when they notice that 30 to 40 percent of their competitors are registered to the standard.
  4. Many start-up businesses that wish to improve the quality of their product select the ISO 9000 standard because it is the single most accepted standard worldwide.
ISO 9000 now has a new look for the new millennium. Check out Ekos Updates: The ISO 9000 family - new for 2000

Until the appearance of ISO 9000: 2000 the thrust of the standard (and its certification criteria) has been about getting processes right. Now the emphasis has shifted from processes to outcomes - ie what you achieve, not how you achieve it.

However, without the processes and procedures of an effective quality management system, the outcomes required for ISO 9000 certification are much harder to achieve.

The key to achieving success is good practice - and good practice is best achieved systematically.

For more information, contact:

Glyn Debnam, Ekos Consulting Limited, 2 Cambrian Grove, Gravesend, Kent DA11 0PU

Email: glyn@ekos-consulting.co.uk

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helping manage business better

Ekos Consulting Limited, Head Office: 2 Cambrian Grove, Gravesend, Kent DA11 0PU
email: info@ekos-consulting.co.uk; phone: 01474 329276/532885