Quality Management Assignment on the ISO9001 Essay

Quality Management Assignment on the ISO9001 - Essay Example In a nutshell, it can be described as a system that facilitates the setting of rules to maximize opportunity while at the same time minimizing the risks for organizations or businesses. The standards are universally relevant and can potentially be applied to any business irrespective of size, scope or the field in which it operates. Background/Origins Contrary to popular assumption, ISO is not an acronym for international standards organization but a Greek word for equality signifying that all the standardized services and products are equal. ISO was initially formed in 1926 as the, International Federation of the National Standardizing Associations and by then it’s purpose was to provide, regulate and maintain standards in mechanical engineering. It disintegrated because of the World War 2, but regrouped in 1946 and assumed the name ISO, the origin of the ISO 9000 series is presumed to have been the US Navy Polaris Admiral, Hymen Rickover. He came up with the idea of investig ating and analyzing the operations of perspective subcontractors and tabulating the data to get a list of the most suitable candidates as well as collectively considering their weakness. Initially the standards were used exclusively for military supplies, however they later came to be used by NASA as well as the first NATO AQAP (1968) and the DEF British standards of the early 1970’s. However it became apparent that a similar civil standard were needed and the BS5750 was developed, this was replaced by the ISO 9000 series which has been continually upgrades to ensure it remains dynamic and relevant. Requirements When a firm decides to get an ISO certification, it needs to fulfill certain requirements in order to satisfy the standards body of their eligibility; on average, ISO certification for most firms takes anything between 3 to six months depending on size and complexity. For successful application and auditing it is important for the organization to have an insider who i s aware of what it takes to achieve the accreditation so they may work closely with management and lias with internal and external auditors to help carry out the groundwork (9001 Counsil, nd). The ISO 9001 manual provides a set of clauses that companies need to follow if they are desirous of attaining the certification by the accreditation body; the following are some of the major requirements: The organizations management system must be robust and effective such that the managers, employees and auditors can easily tell what parts of the overall system relate to specific clauses in the ISO- 9001 manual. This in not however to say that it should use the exact wording or structures as the manual, the firm is free to employ any format it choses as long as it can be clearly be understood in reference to ISO manuals. The firm needs to have a quality policy, which should be clearly documented, and detailing a commitment by the firm to comply with ISO through the operations of its manageme nt systems and a further commitment to quality service provision for its clients (Valeria and Waldomiro 2006, p.524). The ISO auditors will expect that key areas such as quality service provision, personnel training and methods of dealing with non-conformity should explicitly translate into measurable goals and objectives and be closely monitored. The ISO 9001 standards requires that organizations comply with 6 mandatory procedures, to this end,