ISO 9001:2000 One Year Later

by Michele Hoopes, PMP, Vice President of Programs and Policy with Dan Potocki, Process Improvement Specialist

Oftentimes, companies pursue ISO 9001:2000 certification simply for marketing purposes. While that garners benefits in the short-run, ultimately, these companies lose out on what certification has to offer. The real goal of certification is to provide a roadmap to a company's processes, allowing them to be analyzed and improved for the greater benefit of the organization. When other companies neglect this step, not only do they waste effort (and money), they welcome a mountain of frustration when trying to maintain certification. As an alternative, ActioNet made a strong commitment to achieve certification as well as follow the process through. From the beginning, our goal has been to bypass the frustrations and focus on strengthening our Quality Management System (QMS) for the long-haul.

As we approach our first Surveillance Audit, it was a good time to assess how far ActioNet has come since August 2006. In doing so, we've found our:

• QMS provides our organization with a solid foundation.
• Procedures are being followed.
• Employees know how to make improvements to procedures or suggest something new.
• Employees understand that quality is critical to customer satisfaction.

Our QMS is Solid
We put forth a lot of effort to make our QMS easy to use and easy to understand. Users navigate within our Process Asset Library (PAL; our online repository for procedures and communication) to easily find the information they need. We found the PAL's core had not changed in the last year but instead procedures have been enhanced and specific processes streamlined. If you picture the QMS as a building; the walls and rooms remain the same, but we've updated the lighting and air flow. Employees take comfort in knowing that the foundation remains familiar and that any changes applied, are made to help them.

Procedures are being followed
We have a requirement to perform spot checks and internal assessments on each department and project every year. While many companies use internal assessments as a way to police areas; we've chosen a different technique. Our internal assessors study areas and identify opportunities for improvement. Of the eighteen (18) Internal Assessments performed in the last year, we found only one area not conforming to ActioNet procedures. During Root Cause Analysis it was discovered that the procedures were really being followed but the interviewee was confused by the interview questions. Based on this, we adjusted our interview format.

Employees know how to make changes to procedures
We've had Process Enhancement Requests (PERs) at ActioNet since 2003. Since our registration in 2006 and our implementation of the quarterly Greatest Improvement Award, we've enjoyed an increase in the number of PERs submitted. In fact, the number of PERs submitted has doubled each year and the number of employees submitting PERs has risen over 300%. Not all PERs get approved and implemented; however, in the last year 94% have been approved. Ideas that do not meet the company's needs or offer an actual improvement don't get implemented. The employees see this and keep the ideas coming. We feel the improvement numbers speak for themselves.

Employees understand that quality is important and critical to customer satisfaction
We have tied our Quality Policy ("At ActioNet we strive to continually improve our business processes in order to exceed customer requirements and expectations") to our business goals and also into our employee performance evaluations. Our customer satisfaction surveys demonstrate that providing quality products and services is a fundamental way to receive good customer satisfaction ratings.

The bottom line
ISO 9001:2000 has really helped ActioNet continue to improve on all fronts. We've been able to use it as a vehicle to solidify our QMS and foster continual improvement from all areas of the company. We reward good ideas and see the results in our customer service ratings.

This approach would not have been successful without the support from the top. Our President/CEO supports our ISO initiatives and provides resources to ensure that our customers are getting the highest level of quality from ActioNet. Our employees see this and automatically "buy into" this philosophy. Quality products and services at ActioNet are not from a forced response to our philosophy but is a natural response and a natural progression from our corporate culture.