ISO: a Quality Management System: increase efficiency and the bottom line.

• Author: Bonham, Nicole A.

Too often considered an intangible, efficiency may seem difficult to measure and cumbersome to track. In companies of all sizes--from start ups to multi-nationals--it's lost in the heat of meeting a deadline, satisfying a client, pushing one product out the door just in time to start another.

At the micro level, its genesis lies in that elusive and fantastic energy that comes at the midnight hour--those moments before a deadline when team members rise to the occasion and find a sparkling clarity of thought distilled from the mundane shadow of everyday worklife.

At the macro level, efficiency is when an organization captures that energy, documents it for repeatable results and for quick-start use in the future. It's a case of not wasting time and precious creativity recreating a wheel that's been developed time and time and time again.

You've likely heard the buzzwords: process development, Quality Management System, even ISO 9001- and 14001-compliance and -certification. For now, while such corporate speak may seem born of Dilbert's nightmares, keep in mind that the underlying concept is oh-so-simple--and involves equally simple golden rules no different from a life lesson at grandfather's knee. Integrity. Accountability. Principle. In essence, strive as a company to do what you say you do.

RECOGNIZE THE NEED

Perhaps this efficiency business sounds too idealistic to be real? It's too easily lost in the practical application of a complex and multi-divisional organization chart, in the challenges of managing remote operations and legions of employees. How can any company maintain the zip and vinegar that resulted in the first widget developed, the first contract won, the first idea put to paper?

The answer is simple. The implementation is simple. The paradigm shift requires one to realize that decisive action is necessary--not always so simple.

CEOs, take this quick quiz:

Q: Can your development team, at the drop of a hat, recreate a past success simply from available company documentation? Do you have a process in place for creating and storing such knowledge? Do projects move between your divisions with ease and traceability--from research and development, to shipping, to operations and maintenance, to client support? Does your product--actual goods or services--meet the quality of international best practices? (Or perhaps your successes are of the too-common fluke variety--they may satisfy the contract or client of the moment, but your...