ISO 9001 Resources – Your Tools for the Task

QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM ISO 9001:2015 CLAUSE 7.1 RESOURCES
INTRODUCTION – Resources
Resources were relatively insignificant in ISO 9001:2008, so they updated the 2015 version. Undoubtedly, it is a clause worthy of discussion; however, it must be broken up into primary sections to be easily understood.
GENERAL CLAUSE 7.1.1
Firstly it’s is about supplying resources (People, Hardware, Software, Finances to name but a few), you also need to consider the competencies of internal resources and the requirements of external suppliers.
PEOPLE CLAUSE 7.1.2
Secondly, the company must decide on and make available a sufficient number of skilled employees to design, implement, manage and monitor the QMS and its processes.
INFRASTRUCTURE CLAUSE 7.1.3
Thirdly, the company must decide and make available infrastructure (plant, equipment, hardware and software) for the operation of the processes and to reach conformance.
ENVIRONMENT FOR THE OPERATION OF PROCESSES CLAUSE 7.1.4
Then the company must decide, make available and support the environment for the operation of the processes and reach conformance. Examples of this could be making sure your factory is suitable cold if your making ice-cream
MONITORING AND MEASURING RESOURCES CLAUSE 7.1.5
Lastly, the clause oversees measuring equipment, calibration and measurement traceability.
USE SHEQ SOFTWARE
At SRM, we use the Mango SHEQ software solution modules for supervising essential equipment, workplace, infrastructure and other tools. In addition, Mango makes it so simple as opposed to using a hard copy system. Not only does SRM use Mango Compliance Software, but many of our clients as well – www.mangolive.com Mango makes it easier to get ISO 9001:2015 certification.
ORGANIZATIONAL KNOWLEDGE CLAUSE 7.1.6
I have had a couple of headaches and late nights with this clause. Some Certification Body auditors, during external audits, have opposing ideas on what knowledge is. Therefore, you need to examine and understand it for yourself.
During the audit, they need to figure out that the company has considered internal and external resources, for example:
- Understanding the company’s successes, failures and near misses.
- Collecting information from clients, suppliers and investors.
- Finding the expertise in the company.
- Setting a standard against your competition.
- Communicating company experience with interested parties making sure the continuity of the business.
- Founded on the success of improvements, you can monitor and maintain the company expertise.
- Gaining information from conferences, expo’s, networking meetings and other occasions.
In our Quality Manual, we incorporated procedures to address the above items. To achieve this, we did the following:
- Monthly management meetings
- Scrum meetings
- Weekly progress meetings
- Weekly marketing meetings
- Using Mango SHEQ Software for employees and clients
- Deploying a CRM (Customer Relationship Manager)
- Sage Pastel (accounting)
- Learner Management System (online training)
“Every month in the Company Management Review, we look at the effectiveness and efficiency of these resources.”
We input all the information obtained from these platforms and communicate it to our employees. Furthermore, we use this information to provide the client with valuable products and services.
IN CONCLUSION
There have been no revisions to Clauses 7.1.1 to 7.1.5 and are simple to implement. However, Clause 7.1.6 will not be a challenge if you adopt a logical evaluation of your processes so showing how information is acquired. Additionally, you will need to decide how to circulate the data throughout the business. For this reason, you will know if it is well-organised and effective and remember to act if the answer is no to either.
SRM is ISO 9001:2015, ISO 14001:2015 and ISO 45001:2018 certified. Contact our consultants today. Let us know if we can help you with the development and implementation of your Quality Management System.
Associated Blogs:
https://srmc.co.za/iso-9001-clause-4-context-of-the-organisation/
Links to our services:
https://srmc.co.za/services/consulting/
https://srmc.co.za/iso-certifications/