ISO9000 Quality Management systems have emerged out as one of the most popularQuality Management Systems. The standards which were adopted from BS 5750 in1987 underwent amendments in 1994 and 2000, and now again in 2008.


Byconsidering the advantages of getting consistency in the supplies and smoothworking, the organizations who were familiar with BS 5750/ISO 9000 startedinsisting their suppliers for getting accredited to ISO 9000. The governmentagencies also started insisting on ISO 9000 certificate from their suppliersbefore submitting tenders for various supplies of products and services. Thisinsistence compelled number of organizations to align their activities inlinewith the requirements of QMS, and the number of companies with ISO 9001 certificationis increasing alarmingly.


ISO9001 guidelines give basic requirements for a good Quality Management System,which are practical and simple. In the initial stages, people were consideringthe certification of ISO 9000 as a great achievement, but now due toinnumerable number of certificate holders, it is no more considered as anachievement. It is the basic or fundamental requirement for any organization tosurvive. If one is not following a QMS, he is likely to collapse shortly.


Withover one million ISO 9000 certified companies world over, the significance ofthe certificate is getting lost. Almost everyone is ISO certified. Thecustomers are again finding it difficult in identifying good suppliers those arematured in understanding the requirements, who could proactively respond andhave Quality Management Systems, implemented effectively company wide andfollowing religiously. There is no method of assessing the effectiveness ofimplementation, although some companies have developed their own systems tomeasure their performance. There is a need for scientific/logical measurementof the maturity of Quality Management Implementation in an organization.


BSIhas recently started Benchmarking system in QMS. The companies are assessedconsidering the 8 Quality Management Principles adopted in ISO 9001:2000. Foreach principle 5 criteria are verified, and the companies are fitted in one ofthe five levels, viz No level, Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum.


InBSI method there are 5 x 8 = 40 questions, and each question has maximum of 50marks. Total marks are 2000. The companies scoring 20% and below shall not getany rank. The Bronze status is given for companies getting 21% to 40% marks,Silver for 41% to 60 marks, Gold for 61% to 80% marks and Platinum for 81% to100%. The members can have an access to find out the highest ranking in eachcategory. BSI gives reports for each principle separately and also indicatesThreat, Risk, Business impact and area for improvement. Any company, whetherISO 9000 certified or not, can participate in this Benchmarking assessment.Once a company is assessed and graded, a certificate is issued, which is validfor 2 years. There shall be one assessment every year.


Anycompany, if it wants to improve, should first know the level in which they are.It might not be feasible for all to go for a benchmarking survey, as one needto wait for one year after getting assessment to understand the changes instatus if any. And also the external auditors might not get complete exposureto the depth systems have gone. As the purpose is to assess self and plan forimprovement, we need to device a method, which is simple and can be handled byInternal Quality Auditors. The assessment should be done after each InternalQuality Audit so that the effects of efforts made can be understood.


Oneneeds to carefully understand the requirements of the Quality Management Systemand extent to which it can be implemented. The various levels between astarting level company and the best company may be identified and marks may beallotted. By this it shall be possible to understand the level at which we areworking and the area needed to be improved. It is possible to track theperformance in Quality Management Systems in numerical terms.


Anattempt is made herewith to allocate marks for various levels ofimplementation. The internal auditors, who are matured enough and trained inassessment for maturity, can allot the marks independently followed by aconsensus method. By this the company can assess the level of implementation ofQMS and work out the plans to make it more effective.


 

The companies, who are still not matured enough to have self assessment, can understand the expectations of a good QMS system by reading the guidelines for assessment. The concepts which have been given higher marks are the ones to be benchmarked.


In the Guidelines prepared, the maturity is assessed by 100 different angles, referred as elements of implementation of QMS. In each element, 5 possible levels are identified and marks are allotted for them. One need to verify in which level the company is there against each element of QMS. The maximum marks are 5 for each element and minimum is 1. Zero mark is not considered as we have taken a company for assessment which already has implemented QMS and is certified.


A company can therefore have maximum of 500 marks and minimum of 100. If the company scores 100 marks, it is considered as base level or Level 1. Company scoring between 102 to 200 is Level 2, 201 to 300 is Level 3, 301 to 400 is level 4 and 401 to 500 shall be level 5. The chances of a company falling in level 1 is very remote, as they cannot score just 1 in all the 100 elements, but could score more than 1 in number of elements.


As the concepts in QMS change depending on the developments of new concepts, the guidelines prepared also will change. However, by the logics adopted here, we can measure the effectiveness of implementation of any Quality Management System.


About the Author:


The author is a learned Consultant for QMS and Textiles.