What is the first thing you think of when you hear the term “ISO 9001“? Lengthy policies, complicated procedures, and miles of forms to fill out?  A bureaucracy that rivals the US government in size and complexity? Intense, week-long audits that make waterboarding seem like spa therapy? You may be misinformed — ISO 9001 is based on sound business practices and is designed to help your organization improve incrementally.

Now, what do you think of when you hear the term “lean“? Are you thinking “no fat”, as in Jack Sprat?  Do the words “efficient”, “effective”, or “no waste” come to mind?

If we put the two terms together, we get Lean ISO 9001, which means a quality management system (QMS) with no fat…an ISO 9001 system that is efficient, effective, and reduces waste within your organization. Who wouldn’t want that?

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Not all processes require procedure writing.  There’s a lot of overhead associated with every business procedure you write.  Therefore, the more business procedures you write, the more procedures you have to edit, implement, train, audit, and

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Lean Visual Management System cuts through the paperwork typical of ISO 9001:2008 quality certifications.

St. Louis, MO (April 24, 2009) - Bizmanualz, Inc., a business strategy consulting and quality publishing company based in Clayton, Missouri, today announced the successful certification to ISO 9001:2008 for the design, development, realization, and delivery of its policy and procedure publications, training courses, and consulting services.  The certification demonstrates the Bizmanualz commitment to continually improve its ability to assist business owners achieve the growth they envision. 

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Question of the month:  Does complying with the ISO 9001 Standard have to be a “document nightmare?”

The old adage frequently applied to ISO 9001 is “Say what you do and do what you say.”  Some organizations seem to take this to mean “Write down everything you do,” but that is really not required by the standard.  The actual requirement is that processes are well-defined and responsibilities clearly communicated.  This can be accomplished through a lot of methods that require little documentation, such as training. 

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In the two previous articles of this series we discussed two important aspects of a Lean ISO 9001 Quality Management System: a Lean Quality Manual and Lean Quality Management System (QMS) Procedures. But what about other documentation that may be needed?

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In last week’s article I attempted to convince you of the value and sense of a Lean Quality Manual. But how useful is a Lean Quality Manual if the Quality Management System (QMS) procedures are burdensome books, with tons of detail but little real value?

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Lean ISO 9001? To many of you this will seem like a contradiction in terms. The term Lean and ISO 9001 are not generally used together, but why not? Does a Quality Management System (QMS) have to be complicated and cumbersome?

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