Integrated Management System - Essay Example

Topic: integrated management system Integrated management system has acquired critical importance as a medium of providing quality management, environmental management and health and safety management. As there are a number of management systems, integrating them to reap the collective benefits of all systems should be by default the ideal choice of companies. Any management system has particular goals to be attained through some strategy planning and regulatory compliance in the interest of the organisation. Actually by integrating different management systems into a unified system, an organisation can better its performance by aligning business functions with desired results. According to Griffith (1999), an integrated management system (IMS) is ‘the organizational structure, resources and procedures used to plan, monitor and control project quality, safety and environment’. The need for an integrated management system has been felt basically because of considering the adoption of an Environment Management System (EMS) and/or an Occupational Health and Safety Management System (OH&SMS) besides a Quality Management System (QMS), as per the business and industry requirements (Stamou, 2003), as Figure 1 depicts the centre of an Integrated Management System and examples of standards through which the integration can be attained. An IMS is shown situated at the centre of the three systems, adopting common features of all the three management systems. (adapted from: Winder, 2001) As all standards have been securely implemented in the marketplace of different industry sectors, the certification organisations are in favour of an integrated approach wherein a company has a single management system in place in stead of many systems functioning individually showing allegiance to many standards at a time. Having independent management systems under the command of different independent management teams, according to certification agencies, is a risky proposition as each management system would take the organisation in a different direction making the focus on company objectives blurred. Only integration can solve the problem by bringing cohesiveness in the implementation of different standards (Dr. Brewer et al. 2005). An integrated management system fulfills the needs of any organisation, of any size and sector, assimilating the elements of two or more management systems into single unitary system by maintaining and following documentation, policies, procedures and processes holistically. Those organizations already into a single established management system are more prone to and ideally capable of bringing other systems into the fold by integrating safety management and environment management system along with the existing quality management system (BSI Group, 2007). It is technically viable for organisations to integrate different management systems like ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 or BS 8800 with ISO 9000:2000. A good number of British small and medium enterprises have adopted ISO 9000:2000. Primarily, there are four Clauses in ISO 9000:2000, namely: Management responsibility, Resources management, Measurement analysis and improvement and Product realisation. In Britain, a good number of companies are integrating their current quality management system ISO 9000:2000 with ISO 14001, as both describe and mechanise management systems tackling quality and environmental issues. Both provide a basis for integration with quality and environmental management processes (SGS Group, 2010). Different stakeholders like customers, local residents, local government, regulators and employees prompt the drive for IMS. By implementing IMS, organisations function effectively and efficiently while minimizing the cost and disturbance caused by external audits. Through IMS, an organisation can achieve customer as well as employee satisfaction. Let’s have a look at commercial benefits of IMS (ibid). Commercial Benefits of Integrated Management Systems Competitive Advantage -- leading to improvement in the company’s image with the realisation of Q/E/S benefits Improvement of Marketplace – leading to better relations with all stakeholders resulting in minimum hazardous waste generation Customer Satisfaction – leading to more new customers and satisfied existing customers. It will ensure legal compliance and reduce losses in equipment and during production. Cost Reduction – by applying a uniform approach to managing a number of regulations and standards, it will minimise the audit and compliance cost. Cost Saving – as no duplicity of processes due to single system procedure – no duplicity over procedures of systems resulting in better profit margins. Internal Benefits of Integrated Management Systems Internal benefits of IMS occur at the organisation level, leading to financial benefits and adding to employees’ satisfaction: Improvement in quality of management -- by assimilating different functions into one and eradicating incoherent management division of individual systems Financial benefits -- leading to cost saving due to less frequent audits Employee satisfaction – resulting from training, knowledge gaining and inspiration by involving employees in the shared execution of strategy, performance, risk, quality and compliance management Better organisational efficiency -- due to unitary organisation structure and information sharing over the traditional organisation set up Cost saving on external certification over single certification audits leading to better image of the organisation among employees Coordination of all management practices as per your strategy Holistic improvement in processes that includes risk, compliance and quality mandates other than performance Better and quick decision making by managers because of lesser reporting cycles and a single resource for all information, presented in a orderly and consistent way (QPR, 2010). Damage Control – provides scope to reduce loss of organisation property from hazardous waste, loss of goods, reduction in accidents and waste of time, as any such damage can affect the organisation in the long run (Stamou, 2003, p. 27). Design and implementation plan including key system elements In the matter of design and implementation plan concurrent with key system elements, a detailed manual with the elements of the IMS besides the onsite training and help is provided so that implementation is effective. A design model can be developed fulfilling the needs of the ISO 9000 standard, the contents of ISO 14001and safety checklist contractors (SCC), besides some contents of the OHSAS, which can cover aspects relating to ‘Company and management design’, describing the structure of the company and management system. It deals to some extent with the statements of roles and capabilities, developing and control of documents and detailing on a company’s organization structure (Stamou, 2003, p. 33). In the ‘Products and services’ section of the design model, their particular needs and manufacturing processes are outlined after listing products and services as per cumulative demands of customers, company and law. Next, in line is the ‘Process design’, exhibiting a view of all company processes further dividing them into primary and secondary processes, as some processes remain forever in a company that we call primary processes but secondary processes might not be necessary in your line of business (Stamou, 2003, p. 34). Coming to next-in-line element of IMS, ‘Customer and supply focus’, particularly suppliers and contractors other than customers grab the attention because of crucial roles they can some times play and it is not possible to handle them as management desires to measure their values to the organisation. By this measure, IMS can be leveraged by these groups as well, earlier not getting any reference in the model design (ibid). Next element to be roped in is ‘Benchmarking and continuous improvement’ in the efficiency measures. Although the element of benchmarking is not a part of the management systems created on the basis of the rules of the ISO 9000 standard, it provides opportunities to judge the problems and plan strategies at the business sector level, facilitating experience sharing with others in the same line of business as well as knowledge expansion to other businesses on IMS (ibid). These key system elements in the design model produce effective result only when employees execute the designated tasks of continuous development of the IMS. So a strategy from top to down for implementing the IMS i.e. from management to employees is paramount to the successful implementation of the IMS wherein management shows total dedication in pursuing the IMS in current and future projects (ibid). The QMS serves ideally the basis for the integration of all three: QMS represented by ISO 9000:2000, EMAS represented by ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 by integrating the environment, health and safety aspects into the ISO 9000:2000 elements of products, processes and customers. The crucial to integration is the inclusion of benchmarking and strategy making for inspiring employees to actively be a part of all processes in the design model of integrated management system. Companies are provided not only a manual with the elements of the integrated management systems but practical help and training to effectively implement the IMS. The synthesis of all the elements can provide a framework of a potential best practice design model (Stamou, 2003, p. 59). There is provision of training on each element as per the design implementation plan to the employees through seminars and holding workshops. It helps all employees to learn the relevant skills of the IMF through continuous participation. A project team can be formed consisting of quality, environment, health and safety managers sharing collective responsibility of ensuring the proper functioning and implementation of the IMS, besides focussing on internal and external communication. Internal communication is of paramount significance in the successful implementation of the IMS as it brings to the knowledge of all internal stakeholders what the results of the audits are and what system gaps and issues could emerge in the overall company functions, thus, helping in plugging the loopholes by improving the relevant processes. The same project team also ensures that external communication with the stakeholders like customers, suppliers, subcontractors and regulators is maintained by providing them information about the IMS (Stamou, 2003, p. 61). Certain limitations that some companies may face in the implementation of the IMS model described can be overcome by taking help from the ongoing local government programmes to financially support the integration of management systems. There is also a practice going on to jointly implement the IMS by a group of companies by dividing equally the total cost of the IMS implementation. Thus, by making a network of such companies desiring to implement the IMS, collaboration among such companies can be made to implement IMS as per ISO 14001 (ibid). Although the design model of implementing IMS suggests ISO 9000:2000 as the basis of integrating other standards but in the matter of selecting a single standard also ISO 9000:2000 is the most desirable standard. Companies that have already implemented any of the explained standards should develop integration over that standard only. It is common knowledge that a large number of companies have already adopted ISO 9000:2000 than any other standard, which is a good enough reason to base integration of other standards such as ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 with ISO 9000:2000. Another important thing to consider is that such companies that produce a lot of waste in their manufacturing processes need to implement ISO 14001 as waste management is a crucial aspect of this standard. Approach to integration with standards could be any but what holds significance is the final decision of implementing of the IMS (Stamou, 2003, p. 62). Integration with Current ISO 9001 Systems – Single Documentation System By integration with the current ISO 9001 systems, companies can opt for single documentation system in stead of three systems operated and functioned individually. Integration implies documentation of all IMS principles, aims, manuals and procedures into a single documentation system. Actually different systems follow various number of procedures. For example in ISO 9001 there are 33 procedures, in ISO 14001 there are 23 procedures and in OHSAS18001 there are 24 procedures to be followed. Other than that each company has its particular policy, rules and aims to pursue. By following different systems individually, each company has to follow on an average 80 procedures, not including in it yet the documented rule book, policy and aims. Companies need to get rid from this situation that increases their work pressures, document processes and it is also very time consuming to follow those procedures. Only 10% companies so far have integrated their procedures by selecting a single system approach, the IMS. It reduces the count of procedures drastically. By integrating with ISO 9001 systems, the similar system procedures can be merged into one through dissemination of responsibility and accountability. It is also possible to delegate the responsibility of its systems to the department holding accountability for quality in an organisation, thus, managing all systems. By leveraging from this situation, IMS can be implemented smoothly under the same department (Arifin et al. 2009, pp. 191-192). Without the active support of the top management such decisions the like of implementing the IMS cannot be taken as financial issues are primary for any organisation. Until a company finds a direct and perceived opportunity, it won’t take a mature decision on the implementation of the IMS. According to the research, 73% companies have planned to implement the IMS while 83% companies have the competency to implement the IMS because of the benefits of implementation like indirect monetary benefits accruing from cost saving in certification, less use of resources and goodwill building among stakeholders (Arifin et al. 2009, pp. 191-192). Cost Cost saving is one of the benefits of certification, adding value to the company financials, as it provides an opportunity to reduce cost. Cost saving comes from designating responsibilities and setting aims along with the optimised communication frameworks that help in storing relevant information for the benefit of the company to be used when required. It brings greater efficiency. Well structured documentation with added transparency becomes the basis of dependable and dedicated business methods. Increasingly better performance level can be measured when processes are optimised. It helps companies to save energy, minimise waste and raise the standard of their products, resulting in increased efficiency and reduced costs (GL Group, 2010). Certification issues Certification is meaningful in taking a step further on attaining high quality. Successful companies become distinct due to the quality of their products, services and processes. Customers expect the same quality standards to be maintained by the companies. Certification ensures that quality standards are maintained, which can be evaluated and maximised with QMS (GL Group, 2010). As the certification process is based on “plan-do-check-act “ principle, it generally starts with a preparatory meeting followed by an optional pre-audit of emerging gaps to be analysed along with the level of standards’ attained. Next, a start is made with two-stage on-site audit comprising an examination of the current status of the company for certification purpose. In the second stage, the company’s implementation of QMS is evaluated besides the effectiveness of the management system. If a company clears the stipulations of the second stage, a certificate for a period of three years is issued by the certifying company. A surveillance audit is conducted after every 12 months to check the abiding of the company by standards and check its concurrent improvement in processes. Re-certification is needed after three years after checking the adherence to the standards for the overall system in operation (GL Group, 2010). Certification provides a number of benefits other than cost saving such as continuous quality benchmarking, better customer satisfaction, motivated workforce, market goodwill, less prone to errors, better and efficient processes and increase in business competitiveness (GL Group, 2010). Conclusion Opting for an integrated management system comes with some challenges that need to be faced as the benefits far outreach the challenges like lack of time, human and financial resources other than management’s bureaucratic functioning and outlook on IMS. Due to lack of information on the benefits of implementing an integrated management system, companies shy away from investing financial resources in its implementation. By adopting the IMS, companies can increase their performance level efficiently and effectively by managing their functions and operations, thus, realising cost cutting on human and financial resources. External benefits of IMS like getting competitive advantages, reputation in the marketplace and good relationships with stakeholders are possible through an integrated management system. References: Arifin, Kadir., Aiyub, Kadaruddin., Awang, Azahan., Jahi, Jamaluddin Md., 2009. Implementation of integrated management system in Malaysia: the level of organization’s understanding and awareness. European Journal of Scientific Research, 31(2), pp. 188-195. Available from: http://www.eurojournals.com/ejsr_31_2_03.pdf [Accessed 9 July 2010]. Dr. Brewer, David., Dr. Nash, Michael., List, William 2005. Exploiting an integrated management system. Gama Secure Systems Ltd. Available from: http://www.gammassl.co.uk/topics/ics/MSExploitation.pdf [Accessed 9 July 2010]. G L Group, 2010. Benefits -- assembling know-how to optimise performance -- management systems certification. Available from: http://www.gl-group.com/pdf/0E212_ISO_9001.pdf [Accessed 9 July 2010]. GL Group, 2010. ISO 9001:2008 certification: a step up to higher quality. Available from: http://www.gl-group.com/systems-cert [Accessed 9 July 2010]. Griffith, A. 2000 Integrated management systems: a single management system solution for project control? Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, Vol. 7, no 3. Available from: http://www.emeraldinsight.com [Accessed 9 July 2010]. QPR 2010. Key benefits. QPR integrated management system. Available from: http://www.qpr.com/Solutions/integrated-management-system.html [Accessed 9 July 2010]. SGS Group 2010. Systems and services certification: integrated management system. Available from: http://www.sgs.com/integrated_management_systems?serviceId=10201&lobId=5554 [Accessed 9 July 2010]. Stamou, Theofanis. 2003 Integrated Management Systems in Small Medium-Sized Enterprises: Theory and Practice. School of Environmental Sciences. University of East Anglia. Available from: http://www.uea.ac.uk/env/all/teaching/eiaams/pdf_dissertations/2003/Stamou_Fanis.pdf [Accessed 9 July 2010]. Read More