Quality Management Systems: A Closer Look At ISO 9001

Following from last week’s Blog about our 100% pass rate on the latest joint ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 inspection, we are taking a closer look at the quality management system aspect of the audit.

Quality Management Principles

ISO 9001 is based on seven quality management principles (QMPs), a set of fundamental beliefs, norms, rules and values that are accepted as true and can be used as a basis for quality management.

These are:

1. Customer Focus
2. Leadership
3. Engagement Of People
4. Process Approach
5. Improvement
6. Evidence-Based Decision Making
7. Relationship Management

Here at CoolKit, we have used these principles as a guide to create a quality management strategy set to deliver a flawless fridge van conversion to our customers.

Let’s look at the first three in more detail …

1. Customer Focus

One of the focus of a quality management system is to meet customer requirements, with the aim of exceeding their expectations. Our history of growth has been possible from attracting and retaining the confidence of customers, and every aspect of the customer interaction with us has been analysed to make sure we create more value at every opportunity.

The key benefits of having a customer focus are:

• Increased customer value
• Increased customer satisfaction
• Improved customer loyalty
• Enhanced repeat business
• Enhanced reputation of the business
• Expanded customer base
• Increase revenue and market share

It is important for us to understand customers’ current and future needs and expectations, and using this information to create our objectives. Our designers and operations department plan, develop, produce and deliver refrigerated vehicles set to meet our customers’ requirements exactly, and in most cases even exceed their expectations.

2. Leadership

Effective leadership translates into unit of purpose and direction, creating conditions in which people are engaged in achieving the organisation’s quality objectives. This direction is required to have effective strategies, policies, processes and resources in place to achieve success.

The key benefits of effective leaderships are:

• Increased effectiveness and efficiency in meeting the organisation’s quality objectives
• Better co-ordination of the organisation’s processes
• Improved communication between levels and functions
• Development and improvement of the capability of the organisation and its people to deliver the desired results

Our mission, vision, strategy, policies and processes are clearly communicated throughout the business, creating and sustaining shared values, fairness and ethical models of behaviour at all levels. A culture of trust and integrity is shared among the workforce, which is passed on to the relationships with our customers, with an organisation-wide commitment to quality-assured refrigerated vehicles.

3. Engagement Of People

At CoolKit we believe in having competent, empowered and engaged people at all levels throughout the business to enhance our capabilities and deliver the values we strive to achieve. Recognition, empowerment and enhancement of competence facilitate the engagement of people in achieving our quality objectives.

The key benefits of engaging people are:

• Improved understanding of the organisation’s quality objectives by people in the business and increased motivation to achieve them
• Enhanced personal development, initiatives and creativity
• Enhanced people satisfaction
• Enhanced trust and collaboration throughout the organisation
• Increased attention to shared values and culture throughout the business

We constantly promote collaboration across our departments, to ensure a smooth running of processes, all with one common goal: to deliver an industry-leader fridge van to our customers. We facilitate open discussions and sharing of knowledge and experience, empower people to determine constraints to performance and to take initiatives without fear.

Next week we will continue to analyse the remaining four principles of quality management and provide you with an insight into the way we make use of them here at CoolKit. Make sure to follow our Blog so not miss out on this and if you require any assistance with your refrigerated transport requirements do not hesitate to contact our sales team on 0845 459 5418 or complete and enquiry form.

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