Benchmarking and Quality (ISO 9001)

Benchmarking and Quality (ISO 9001)

Hello, I am looking for information about the relation between benchmarking and quality. Is Benchmarking useful in a ISO9001 quality certification process? Thanks for your comments that will help me.

		André Lopes
	ISO 9001 Yes, if you select companies who already have certification in ISO9001.

		Zafar Dar
	Quality Certification Process and Benchmarking Yes, benchmarking is one of the important steps if you are qoing to implement TQM in your organisation as you have to define targets for quality improvement in products or services. ISO 9001 provides you framework for a Quality Management System that will only certify your own systems and procedures. It also provides you guidelines for continual improvement. But benchmarking is not a requirement of ISO as such.

		Walter Berns Strategy Consultant, United States
	ISO9001 Yes, benchmarking is setting a reference point so to speak. Therefore, as it was stated above choose a company that is already certified and use their example. For protocols do an initial audit but make sure they are correctly followed. Then some time later do another audit on that same set of protocols and compare how they had been followed during the time between audits. The first becomes the benchmark. In addition, doing this will check how well training is accomplished.