Iso 9001 gap analysis

1. Iso 9001 gap analysis
Question:
To start my ISO project I need a gap audit...don't I?
My Answer:
Good Question.
Conventional wisdom is that step one is to determine your current situation. In larger and
more complex organizations this is more valid than in simpler and smaller organizations.
A formal gap audit will be conducted very much like an ISO assessment audit. Each
process will be examined, details will be checked and a comprehensive report will be
generated. Perhaps it doesn't need to be as long as a formal ISO audit but gap audits are
still often quite lengthy.
In many cases it is easy to determine the current situation. "We don't do internal audits,
we haven't got a formal calibration program, we don't have a management review
meeting". Many of the supporting ISO requirements are not implemented in organizations
and you don't need a formal gap analysis to tell you that.
The primary processes in an organization - those that you do for a living, tend to be in
good shape. ISO is such a good standard that if you are successful then you are probably
meeting ISO 80-90%. Consequently it will take a really detailed gap audit to identify
these issues and that may simply not be worth it. Accept that some "tweaking" will be
necessary during the project.....but not much.
In most instances, with a project plan in place, the gap analysis has a very short life as
any gaps are fixed within a few week.
When good consultants perform their consulting projects, they will oftentimes forego the
formal gap analysis in favor of a project planning exercise. They will look at each
process, ask some telling questions and focus on planning the solution. Documenting
findings which they are going to fix in a few weeks is just "busy work". They do a basic
review of the current situation, produce a project plan identifying the ISO processes and
cross referencing to the requirements they expect (at this stage) to address. During the
project, they get into each process in detail and make sure that everything is adequately
addressed. Thus any gaps that might have been around at the start of the project are not
very relevant. And of course they will also course this a gap analysis.
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