Over the decades ISO has devised and set the rules for the compliance game.   No, you wont find it on PlayStation because it’s much, much bigger, more complicated and involves billions of dollars every year from companies around the world who have to play to get business.

The 600 Kg gorilla in the compliance game is, yes of course you knew, quality!   ISO 9001, currently in its 2008 edition and has some 1.1 million adherents.  Here in the good ole RSA we probably have around 3 500 today all spending a fortune each year to get and keep their certificates.

And that’s the rub, the cost of getting and keeping your certificate.   Its based on some wonky ISO criteria one of which is how many employees do you have?   This means the fewer people you have the less you end up paying because ISO requires your certification body to spend fewer days dredging through your documents and records.  Well, sort of, but if you cost it against your total number of employees you get a different picture.   The smaller you are, and we are small, the more the cost per capita shoots up until the poor sod with less than 10 happy souls on the payroll is going to blow his nose in anguish.

The trouble is it’s small companies that need to play the compliance game most of all to qualify for tenders, get on those big company vendor lists, or maybe export and grow!   So how does today’s Bill Gates get out the garage and play the compliance game?

I’m sure that most of you have not thought about the difference in people’s body sizes until you board an aeroplane and find that the person next to you is taking up some of your space or that leg room is not enough to accommodate your long legs making your journey uncomfortable.

According to the ISO website the size of people in many counties has increased in the past few decades and with this in mind the International Standards Organisation has compiled people measurements from around the world and published “ISO/TR 7250-2:2010, Basic human body measurements for technological design – Part 2: Statistical summaries of body measurements from individual ISO populations”. The purpose is to assist designers and manufacturers to produce transportation, clothing, homes and workspaces that fit people comfortably and safely.

Many things seem simple until you learn more about them. Go onto the internet and search for people sizes and you will find a whole lot of information which is interesting and which may never have occurred to you unless you are in the business of making or designing items that people wear or use. There is even a site for people who have different size feet. Food for thought?

Despite the recent financial crisis that had an impact on most countries the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) reported certifications of management systems in 176 countries.   The organization is of the opinion that this is an indication that management systems are viewed as indispensable in the world economy and may even be viewed as more essential in a time of crisis.

It is also interesting that the ISO Survey of Certifications – 2008 published on 7^th December 2009 showed a marked increase in certifications of ISO 22000 food safety management systems and ISO 27001 information security management systems.

By the end of 2008 the number of:

• ISO 22000 certifications had reached 8,102 in 112 countries which is more than a 96% increase from 2007.
• ISO 27001 certifications had reached 9,246 in 82 countries which is more than a 20% increase from 2007 and 94% of those certifications are for organization providing services.
• ISO 9001 certifications had reached just short of a million in 176 countries which is more than a 3% increase from 2007 and 40% of those certifications are for organization providing services.
• ISO 14001 certifications had reached 188,815 in 155 countries which is more than a 22% increase from 2007 and 34% of those certifications are for organization providing services.

It just goes to show that compliance is here to stay.

Over the past few months I’ve have come into contact with many people from all types of organisations and the one sentiment that underlies the conversations is affordability.

When times are tough for everyone, how can you justify investing in a Quality Management System?   This is one of those areas where cut backs impact negatively, joining the pile of marketing, team building exercises and 13th cheques.

My question is can you afford not to have a system in place?   A QMS assists in the control of your processes and services thereby helping you to closely monitor those activities which are not serving your organisation in a positive way but rather draining it of essential time, people and financial resources.

Making mistakes can be costly, whether it’s the wrong product or a bad service.

In the service industry you are only as good as your last mistake. When you get a product wrong people are more inclined to give you a second chance. When you get a service wrong, people often walk away dissatisfied, disgruntled, do not necessarily complain to you but do spread the word.   This can be far more damaging to your reputation and future business opportunities if you are unaware of the problem to begin with.

A Quality Management System establishes a solid foundation of consistency and continual improvement in processes, highlighting those which are efficient and effective and those which are not.

ISO 9001 is applicable to any type of industry or organisation no matter what the size and nature.   It’s aim, to achieve better business results by focusing on the fundamentals – meeting customer requirements and continually improving work practice.   A QMS assists the organisation to demonstrate it’s ability to be consistent in it’s provision of products or services to meet customer and applicable statutory and regulatory requirements.

Ask yourself….would you build a house without a foundation?

The question is not whether you can afford to implement a Quality Management System but rather can you afford run your business without one?