Integration of the ISO 9001 QMS with the company’s IT business system

Abstract

Our research highlights an issue of raising the effectiveness of the implemented ISO 9001 quality management system (QMS) in a company and the internal support to it. The paper analyses the ISO 9001:2015 requirements and the commonly available information technology (IT) support. Based on this analysis, literature review and some preliminary empirical research on the interest of consultants, auditors and other practitioners in IT support to ISO 9001 QMS, the paper suggests the integration of the QMS and internal IT system of the company. The use of IT in QMS as a support to its better performance is not required in ISO 9001:2015. Furthermore, it is not clearly suggested, encouraged and commonly practiced, however, proper software solutions exist. They are available, affordable and broadly implemented in the companies. This way ISO 9001 QMS would become better integrated into everyday business, better understood and accepted in the company. It also prevents splitting QMS from operation management system and boosting double work and bureaucracy. As suggested in the paper, more research, encouragement, professional guidance and raised interest in this field are needed and expected. The research on it in the literature is only partial and rare.

Keywords:

• Quality
• quality management
• ISO 9001
• business process management
• ERP – enterprise resource planning
• information system/IT system

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.