In recent years, the statistical data of product quality spot checks in China shows that the product quality qualification rate of small and medium-sized enterprises is much lower than that of large enterprises. At the same time, the pace of ISO9001 certification for small and medium-sized enterprises is also slower than that of large enterprises. Many small and medium-sized enterprises that intend to obtain certification or have already obtained certification have not significantly improved their actual quality management level. There are some issues that can be summarized as follows:
 
Relatively low quality awareness
Some small and medium-sized enterprises that have long implemented a planned economy system have the main task of "meeting targets" and "meeting standards". The concept of "quantity" is established in the minds of leaders and employees, and some even focus only on quantity, neglecting quality, and cannot even meet the minimum standards.
 
For some enterprises, the main reason for low quality lies with their supervisors. Due to their own quality limitations, their primary concern is the short-term benefits of the enterprise. They lack long-term planning and strategic considerations for the survival and development of the enterprise, ignoring the challenges of new enterprises and the impact of international competition. To some extent, the quality management level of such enterprises has actually weakened, and their development potential is very limited. Quality is the life of enterprises, and failure to do well in quality is the fundamental reason for the generally short lifespan of small and medium-sized enterprises.
 
 
Misunderstandings in Understanding ISO9001 Certification
 
Specifically reflected in three aspects:
(1) It is believed that the ISO9001 quality system is only applicable to large enterprises, but difficult to operate for small and medium-sized enterprises. The time, energy, and cost of implementing standards far exceed the benefits obtained from implementing standards;
(2) Viewing ISO9001 quality certification as a new administrative inspection and acceptance, and adopting a responsive attitude towards certification work;
(3) Emphasizing the results but neglecting the process, believing that certification means obtaining a "certificate", which can facilitate sales competition, product exports, and company listing. Therefore, hastily implementing standards and certification, and completing them within a deadline. This goes against the spirit and essence of the ISO9001 family of international quality standards.
 
The development of basic quality management work lags behind
Many small and medium-sized enterprises use "package" instead of "management" and "stock" instead of "management", overly emphasizing technical, administrative, and economic means. The basic work of quality management includes standardization of measurement work, quality information management, quality education, quality organization and responsibility, and employee quality management activities. The system is not sound and the development is lagging behind.
 
Serious lack of investment in quality management work
The management team of small and medium-sized enterprises, especially private enterprises, mainly focuses on sales, external communication, and other matters. However, they try to "delegate power" to major matters related to quality and life, such as implementing standards, and rarely pay attention to them. Even the quality policy and objectives of the enterprise are decided by subordinates. Some even entrust the full responsibility of implementing standards to consulting companies, making the cost investment in quality management more "economical". From the payment of professional consulting companies to the establishment of internal ISO9001 quality management related organizational structures, personnel and testing equipment are all cost-effective. The result is either a serious discrepancy between the quality system documents prepared and the needs of enterprise quality management, or the established quality system cannot be smoothly implemented in the enterprise, and the level of quality management cannot be improved. The enterprise will soon be eliminated in the international market competition.
 
Management representatives can be freely selected
Small and medium-sized enterprises have a great deal of arbitrariness in representing their managers. Either delegate to personnel who can free up time and energy to handle document preparation and on-site audits, but are not directly related to the production and operation of the enterprise; Either send personnel without quality management experience and professional knowledge, who are unable to devote themselves to studying the ISO9001 family of quality standards. This will result in management representatives being unable to formulate reasonable and clear quality policies or goals, unable to independently lead the preparation of enterprise quality documents, and can only rely on imagination or blind plagiarism, ultimately unable to meet the needs of the enterprise. Another situation is that there is no clear authorization or long-term appointment for the management representative that is suitable for the position, or the representative lacks credibility among employees, making the process of implementing standards difficult. After the implementation of standards, the appointment of such personnel for quality management ends, making it difficult for enterprises to self improve their quality system, and the level of quality management continues to decline.
 
There are misunderstandings in the selection and understanding of institutions
(1) Due to the fact that business executives only focus on results and only seek certification, as long as the consulting company promises to obtain certification, the duration of standard implementation and consulting price become the first factors to consider. However, the internal quality of services provided by consulting companies is rarely considered.
(2) Requesting the consulting company to take full responsibility. Require consulting firms to write documents based on their understanding of the company's situation, conduct internal audits on their behalf, and even have certification bodies review them. They also require consulting firms to pretend to be employees to handle inquiries, and the implementation and implementation of standards go their own way
(3) Choose any certification agency. Enterprises do not pay attention to examining the background of certification agencies, and there is a great deal of randomness in the process. At present, there are indeed problems with lax management and numerous branches of certification agencies, resulting in a mixed bag of certification companies that issue and sell certificates at will.
 
To improve the quality management level of small and medium-sized enterprises and achieve good results in ISO9001 quality system certification, the following measures should be taken:
 
Establishing a conscious concept of "quality"
Through extensive training and education, the management team and all employees are made clear that in the future international market competition, products with different qualities will win. Only with quality can there be a market, and only with market can there be benefits. Therefore, ISO9001 quality system certification is not a burden imposed on the enterprise or department by anyone, not "someone wants me to do it", but "I need to do it myself". It is also necessary to make the management and all employees aware that the ISO9001 quality system involves all employees of the enterprise and requires full participation.
 
Enhance awareness of ISO9001 for quality certification
The inherent properties of the ISO9001 system are actually flexible and flexible, and it is applicable to enterprises of any industry and scale, as well as small and medium-sized enterprises.
 
Develop a quality system that meets the needs of the enterprise
To achieve significant benefits with reasonable investment, enterprises should provide reasonable and sufficient investment in effort, time, and cost for implementing standards. From another perspective, there is no need to abolish existing rules and regulations, process flow and other documents, and start anew. Instead, according to the actual situation of the enterprise, some existing procedural rules, regulations, and operational rules should be deleted and supplemented based on the selected system elements.
This not only saves investment, but also provides a quality system that effectively meets the operational needs of small and medium-sized enterprises. At the same time, the quality system required for the operation of small and medium-sized enterprises can also be preserved, and the advantages of flexibility and flexibility of small and medium-sized enterprises can be preserved, achieving great benefits with small investment.
 
Carefully select management representatives
The representative of the management is a key figure in the entire process of establishing the ISO9001 quality assurance system, The ISO9001 quality standard endows it with the responsibility of ensuring the establishment, implementation, and maintenance of a quality system in accordance with the requirements of this standard. The appropriate selection of management representatives directly affects the smooth progress of the entire certification work.
 
Emphasize all staff training and post management
All standard procedure documents, quality plans, etc. of ISO9001 need to be executed by people. Therefore, strengthening training to improve the quality of personnel, adapting to the needs of management, execution, verification and other work, is the primary factor to ensure the continuous and normal operation of the ISO9001 quality system, and to achieve the quality policy and objectives.
 
Carefully choose consulting firms
Generally speaking, the ISO9001 certification process of enterprises requires the participation of professional consulting companies in order to clarify the situation, accelerate progress, and avoid detours. When choosing a consulting company, one should consider the size of the company, whether there are consultants from different professional fields, whether their professional knowledge and practical management background are extensive, whether they have rich experience in consulting small and medium-sized enterprises, whether they can plan complete training, and whether they can provide opportunities for on-site observation.