7.1.3 Infrastructure
Managing resources is an important part of running a business smoothly and efficiently, which is why clause 7.1 of the ISO 9001/AS9100D/AS9120 standard is entirely dedicated to resource coverage. Clause 7.1.3 under resources requires the organization to plan, provide and manage its infrastructure effectively.
Having adequate resources is essential to ensure product conformity and satisfy customer requirements.
An organization’s infrastructure consists of physical assets that enable its operations. These assets will differ depending on the organization and the nature of its offerings.
Here are examples of different types of organizations with various assets specific to them:
- Engineering firm: This type of organization relies on their infrastructure to provide and store information.
- Manufacturing plant: An organization like this relies heavily on industrial machines and equipment to carry out its production.
- Distribution company: This type of organization revolves around moving product and securely storing it.
When developing infrastructure plans, an organization should consider strategic factors such as future needs, current availability and capacity, and contingency plans.
7.1.4 Environment for Operation
A company’s environment consists of the conditions that exist in its workplace. The conditions required by ISO 9001 refer to an organization’s process to achieve the conformity of its product or service.
Typical controls of a work environment:
- Temperature and Humidity
- Safety Hazards
- Lighting, Noise, and Vibration
- Housekeeping
- Personal Hygiene
ISO 9001 states that organizations must determine and maintain the environmental conditions necessary, whether they are social, psychological, or physical.
The purpose of process environment control is to determine, define, direct, monitor, regulate, coordinate, and, where appropriate, document the process environment conditions.
Defining the essential conditions and implementing process environment controls must include all areas and scopes of the realization processes.
Benefits:
The premise for risk management of the environment is to assess scenarios that may pose risks to the realization of products and services, assess their severity, implement controls and procedures to eliminate or reduce the risks, and assess the effectiveness of these controls.
7.2 Competence
Employee competence is a critical factor in the success of an organization and in the efficiency of a quality management system.
As stated in the standard, the organization is required to:
- Determine the necessary competence of person(s) doing work under their control that affects the performance and effectiveness of the quality management system.
- Ensure that these persons are competent on the basis of appropriate education, training, and or experience.
- Where applicable, take actions to acquire the necessary competence and evaluate the effectiveness of the actions taken.
- Retain appropriate documented information as evidence of competence.
These methods can include:
- On-the-job training
- Independent study
- Certification acquisition
- Coaching and counseling
- Experience
- Education
7.4 Communication
Good communication is an essential tool for increasing productivity and sustaining strong working relationships at all levels of an organization. Clause 7.4 of the ISO 9001/AS9100 standard requires a proactive approach to communication through the implementation of a communication strategy.
Internal and external Communication
Internal communication is a means to ensure that employees have the information they need to be able to carry on their job duties effectively. Effective external communication ensures that relevant stakeholders, such as customers, suppliers, regulatory bodies, and financial institutions, are appropriately informed.
Developing a communication strategy
According to the standard requirements, 5 questions should be addressed:
- What is being communicated?
- When will you communicate?
- With whom are you communicating?
- How are you going to communicate?
- Who/where is the communication coming from?
Overall, good communication can improve teamwork and project collaboration and ensure that management and staff are on the same page.
