10 CRITICAL FACTORS THAT MAKE ISO IMPLEMENTATION SUCCESSFUL

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Based on PQA's research on why some companies had such great success with their ISO implementations and others failed spectacularly, PQA has identified 10 Critical Success Factors that make an ISO implementation successful. They are:

1. Sr. Management's recognition of their crucial role in the ISO system management process

2. ISO involvement at all levels, jobs, and areas in the organization

3. Understanding of the organizational processes and the critical control points in the process.

4. People trained in how to do their job, and interact effectively with the whole system.

5. Focusing on organizational development & improvement, not just the bare minimum (ie. what the ISO Registrar is willing to accept today)

6. Finding balance between excess ISO bureaucracy, and insufficient ISO system depth to ensure consistent results.

7. Dedication to following the agreed systems at all levels in the organization

8.Keeping the organization focused on meeting the ISO implementation timeline

9. Effective ISO auditing (ie. Sr. Management knows the ISO status, the risks, and gets actionable recommendations for rapid improvement)

10. Timely management response to ISO audit results.

If a consultant was relied upon to guide the ISO implementation, the fault for a poor ISO implementation may very well lie with the consultant. Was the consultant's advise understood, and followed by Sr. Management? Most Sr. Management get distracted very early in the ISO implementation process, then abdicate (Sr. Management calls it "delegate") the ISO implementation process to staff or consultants. The effective ISO implementation is often sacrificed for a quick ISO certificate on the wall with minimal effort and costs.

For quality consultants to be effective, they need to have a good understanding both of ISO 9001 and the sector or company they are seeking to apply it to. Effective ISO 9001 implementation is supposed to lead to improved productivity, efficiency, consistency and client service. If ISO 9001 is not delivering this, then it has not been effectively implemented.

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http://www.pqa.net/ProdServices/ISO/ISO-System-Effectiveness.html