What are the key factors to business success? While many factors vary depending on the industry and the size of each company, there are some commonalities. These include efficiency, customer satisfaction and credibility, employee engagement, and strong decision-making, while there are many ways to get great results in these areas, few can offer all the benefits. Implementing ISO 9001 Australia is a great way to improve all aspects of your business and reap many other benefits.
Don’t be alarmed if this sounds like gibberish. You’ll be able to understand the basics of ISO 9001 and how it can benefit your business by the end of this article.
What’s ISO 9001?
ISO 9001 is an international standard for quality management systems. ISO 9001:2015 was the most recent update.
What Are Some Of The Benefits Of Implementing ISO 9001 Within Your Business?
Implementing ISO 9001 will allow you to consistently deliver quality products and/or services, provided your business can physically achieve that level. This is achieved by making sure that your processes are consistent and reproducible. You can expect to receive the following additional benefits if you implement ISO 9001 within your business.
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Increased Efficiency And Lower Costs
Standardization and proper recording of every aspect of your business will make it run smoothly and reduce duplication. Decision-making will also be much easier. You will be able to accomplish everything you do now more efficiently, quickly, and cheaply.
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Improved Customer Satisfaction
Customers will be happier if you respond quickly to their needs with reliable and consistent products or services.
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Increased Credibility
A certification can instantly increase a company’s credibility. External stakeholders, clients, and customers both domestically and internationally will be able to see that you have achieved ISO 9001 certification and will be more confident in your business and your products/services.
Businesses that have not been ISO 9001 certified in Australia are becoming a minority. Until you are compliant, you will be considered substandard by those who know. Some clients and customers won’t work with businesses that haven’t been certified in ISO 9001.
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Employee Engagement Is Improved
Employees who are involved in business decisions and processes are happier and more engaged. They are often the best placed to identify potential areas of improvement and then test them. If you use ISO 9001 to guide improvements and involve your employees, they’ll feel more involved and excited.
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Continuous Improvement
Continuous improvement is one of the quality management principles that ISO 9001 embodies. Implementing ISO 9001 will help you to commit to continuous improvement, which will in turn lead to further improvements in all the areas mentioned above.
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Strong Decision-Making Processes
ISO 9001 also outlines the importance of evidence-based decision-making processes as a quality management principle. Implementing ISO 9001 will eliminate any reliance on intuition or whim in decision-making.
An Example Of How ISO 9001 Can Help Your Business
The ‘context’ of an organization is one inclusion in ISO 9001. It is important to be aware of any issues that could affect your business’s operations to respond to possible changes. One example of this is a change to government legislation. Do you operate under one or more pieces of legislation? Being ISO 9001 certified could help you determine which parts of your business are affected by changes to the legislation. This will allow you to adapt more quickly to any such changes.
