Shopping Cart: Quality Systems 
As part of doing business more and more of your customers will ask why they should use your business in preference over your competitor. If all other aspects are equal, the only difference may be a documented Quality Management Plan.
If you do not have a documented Quality Management System, you may be asked to provide assurance to a new client that when it deals with your company you will be able to ensure that all of its requirements can be met by following specifically documented processes that can produce an audit trail.
As with a certified management system, where certification is generally by a third party, i.e. SAI Global International, DnV, SGS, etc, your company should provide a second party certification but only for the products/services the customer is purchasing from you.
Their company will generally provide the specification, such as the requirement for batch numbers; use by dates; complete set of documentation with signatures of delivery, inspection, transportation and packaging methods; identifying problems and resolutions and even to nominating specific personnel to perform nominated tasks.
To win any contract and possible future work, it is essential that compliance to specifications required by the customer is adhered to.
ISO9001: 2008
The ISO 9000 Standards have been around since 1987. Australia embraced the concept of International Quality Management Systems when the first set of principles was published by the International Standards Organisation which is based in Geneva, Switzerland.
During the past eighteen years, the Standards have undergone two re-issues, one in the 1994 and the most recent, 2000. The latest just managed to scrape into the year 2000 and it was aligned to the other standards addressing safety and environment.
The 2000 edition was created because of the perception that the previous editions were only aimed at the manufacturing industries and was too difficult to interpret for other industries, particularly the Service Industry.
The 2000 edition encourages the company to look at itself as a process oriented organisation. Indeed as does a Business Plan encourage the company to look at all aspects of the company’s operational processes, so does the ISO 9001:2008 Standard.
Sue is able to de-mystify the requirements of the Standard and to set the company on the road to improving the bottom line.
In this day and age, no company will be able to survive by just raising the rates. To be successful, 'providing customer satisfaction' is more true today than it has ever been.
By embracing the concepts of ISO 9001:2008, you will be able to know where your problems are, what they are costing you and, most importantly of all, be able to fix those problems. We do not necessarily advocate full blown certification to the Standard, but embracing the principals and implementing an integrated management system will bring benefits to your company.
Many executives realise that management has a tendency to have tunnel vision. Macao Consulting will be able to create your orgranisation a corporate culture that encourages every employee to look at problems and business in the same way.
Macao Consulting can bring fresh, new perspectives and opinions.
Troubles that company members don't see or are afraid to discuss may hover on the horizon. Macao Consulting is under no compulsion or obligation to make the boss happy. Employees can confide in us and share concerns and perceptions that they usually hide.