The ISO 9000 series is underpinned by 8 principles of quality management. These principles can be considered “threads” of good business practice that should focus the application and intent of the ISO 9000 series. In short, a decent grasp of what these principles are driving at will increase the chances that the organisation will use the ISO 9000 series to best effect. ISO 9004 provides guidance on the way that these principles should be applied. The quotes in italics are taken from ISO 9004

Customer focus

“Organisations depend on their customers and therefore should understand current and future customer needs, should meet customer requirements and strive to exceed customer expectations”

Fundamental concepts include: effective customer communication regarding requirements, orders and complaints, a means of measuring customer satisfaction and identifying a means of improving customer satisfaction over time. This principle acknowledges the fact that success is not all about conformity, and that even with good conformity levels, it is possible to lose business by upsetting the customer relationship by other means. So far as customer satisfaction goes, perception is reality. This means that if the customer is not satisfied (even if they should be) they aren’t. A number of ISO 9001 clauses link directly to this principle, for example:

5.2 Customer focus (the organisation should know what that means in its operational context)

5.6.2 b Management review input (should include customer feedback metrics)

5.6.3 b Management review output (should include customer related actions)

6.1 b Provision of resources (should be adequate to meet customer requirements)

7.2 Customer related processes (orders, contracts, changes, communications, etc should all work for the customer) 8.2.1 Customer satisfaction (should be measured)

8.4 a Analysis of data (customer satisfaction data should be analysed)

Leadership

“Leaders establish unity of purpose and direction in an organisation. They should create and maintain the internal environment in which people can become fully involved in achieving the organisation’s objectives”

Fundamental concepts include: active involvement in policy and objective setting, in management review and the provision of resources and an appropriate infrastructure. The entire section 5 of ISO 9001 identifies those aspects of the management system that require a direct (not delegated) involvement from top management. This is important so that the management system effectively points in the right direction. Competent and capable person that the QA manager often is, he/she will usually not have access to all of the important strategic information that will influence policy and objectives, and that person certainly won’t have the authority and budget to make everything happen. The vital link between understanding customer preferences, and using customer and market data wisely at strategic level is emphasised by this article. If you get lazy and start taking your customers for granted, even the big boys can be asking for trouble
(more…)