ISO 9001:2015 is an international standard dedicated solely to Quality Management Systems. The outline of ISO 9001 is based on defined objectives. Despite the fact that the ISO standard covers the entire basis of a company’s operations on a daily basis, the objectives come down to three main points, namely the prevention of nonconformities, continuous improvement and customer satisfaction. These objectives enable the business to focus more acutely on product and service quality, operational performance and financial performance. 

Merely adopting and maintaining the ISO 9001 certificate is not enough and fulfilling and conforming to a quality standard’s minimum requirements is insufficient. At Chemical Solutions and Innovations (Pty) Ltd. (CSI), we have fully incorporated the ISO culture. ISO has become the way we work, the way we make decisions and the way forward. We made the standard fit the company, not the company fit the standard. If companies want to achieve business benefits and superior results, the attainment of a quality certificate to ISO 9001 should not be the end, but the starting point for deploying an effective Quality Management System in the quest for continuous quality improvement. It is this mindset that started the Quality Management System at CSI. From the very first day of business CSI has always strived to put out products and services of exceptional quality, but it became apparent that there is always room for improvement and excelling above others in the field. Thus the ISO journey started for CSI. With implementing ISO 9001 within CSI  the system changed the perception of quality within the workplace. Quality became a state of mind leading to changes in behaviours to excel in everything which implies striving for target performance and verifiable actions with the desired results. ISO became a way of working at CSI, with every decision made, made with the thought of how we can implement this into our Quality Management System. The results are self-explanatory; delivering services and manufacturing products of exceptional quality leading to satisfied customers.  No company is without defects or weaknesses, the difference being how those defects and weaknesses are addressed, in the present and going forward. CSI embraces defects by assessing the source of the defects and putting processes or process improvements in place to ensure that the identified defects does not re-occur, going forward and ultimately improving our business processes and reducing scrap, rework and cost. Continuous ISO improvements should be an attitude within the company. The business process is important , but unless there is a change in the company culture it will not work. At CSI this culture has been wholly incorporated into our daily way of working. Since implementing ISO 9001 within CSI, it has been evident that we have had exponential growth, throughout all departments in the company. We at CSI are proud to be able to deliver services and manufacture products of high quality and we will strive to continuously better our Quality Management System.

Ryno Deyzel

Quality Assurance Manager