Implementing a Quality Management System for an Engineering and Services Company

Abstract

This Thesis was carried out for an engineering and service company as part of a strategy update by implementing a quality management system into the operations of the case company. The main objective of this Thesis was to provide a solution on how to implement the ISO 9001 quality management system successfully.

The research approach selected was analysis of data. To implement the ISO 9001 quality management system into the operations of the case company, current standards and best practices of quality management system and change management were reviewed. Parallel with the literature analysis, a data collection from the case company was carried out through workshops, discussions, reviews and audits.

The outcomes of the implementation were a) the ISO 9001 readiness analysis, which clarified the case company's state towards the ISO 9001 requirements; b) the implementation plan, which determined improvement actions that needed to be in line with the standard before performing the internal audit. The implementation plan was also a tool for monitoring the progress of the actions, and c) the internal audit plan and the results of the internal audit. As an overall result the case company got more consistent way of operating and is closer to getting ISO 9001 certification.

Based on the audit results and findings, the case company needs to do improvements to the operations so that the ISO 9001 requirements would conform to the following corporate audit. This thesis provides an overall framework of the implementation process, which can be applied to every quality management system.