Management Commitment-ISO 9001 Compliance

With this blog I am starting ISO 9001 Compliance sessions. We have a great model company which will be compliant by the end of this project. Doraville Custom Machine Shop run by Charles Blair is located in Lawrenceville, GA. I have known Charles almost for a year now. The reason why Charles’s firm is a great example because he has the most critical part of ISO 9001 compliance endeavor which is Management Commitment.

Management Commitment is not just guidelines and meetings but rather the opposite; it is the need from management to have a quality oriented organization. Now the reason why it is critical more than any section of ISO 9001 is because directives come from management. The face of company is not just the product or service if they are not of good quality. Without quality the greatest product will be a failure. No one goes after the individual machine operator or service men; they go after the company reputation and management. Management is the face as well as the interface of company.

Our country is well placed because it resonates with quality. Nobody will say that if it’s made in USA you need to recheck quality. It’s the blind trust people have.  In recent years when a lot of manufacturing moved from its base in US to different countries, there were noticeable cost savings but quality got compromised with many products. Although, there are some products which have fared well and have maintained superior quality (Cell phone handsets, Microchips, electronics).

Management is the navigation system which can steer the organizational ship in either direction good or bad. They are the interface with customers and also the employees, who generate enthusiasm and confidence for all of them. Before being embraced by any employee, systems like ISO 9001 initiative or any of their kind which is oriented towards company management and quality system needs to be fully understood and accepted by top management. Because if not, the process can be stymied and desired results will not be achieved along with huge loss of time, money and resources.

We will discuss more in detail about the requirements for Management Commitment and what is applicable to your specific needs in next blog. If you are in process of working towards compliance or certification internally and have some questions or dilemma please feel free to contact me. Also follow up on twitter for tips on specific sections of ISO 9001.

One comment

  • Steve Frank

    June 8, 2011 at 3:56 pm

    Sunita,
    Glad to see you are reaching out to markets that are yet untapped! Keep us posted with what you learn.
    -Steve Frank
    Apex Designs

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