To Improve is to Change - ISO 9001 Certification

Any business needs to adapt and change to survive. A simple SWOT analysis identifies the internal and external factors that are pushing and pulling on an organisation and the ability of that organisation to act on those pressures, the risks and the opportunities, the positives and negatives will determine its survival. Churchill said that "to improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often", and on this journey of improvement, consistent change within a business, as long as it is managed carefully, should enable growth of the business and of the people in it.

At Klarian we try to embed this mindset of continuous improvement and change, and in order to do this in a sensible and managed way, we adopted the ISO 9001 philosophy and in early 2023, we embarked on a journey to achieve certification with an accredited body (the BSI). 

It may seem incongruous that an organisation which is passionate about change and improvement would seek to adopt certification from a standard that has a reputation for being process heavy.  However, the core tenets of the ISO 9001 quality standard require a focus on continuous improvement, quality and customer satisfaction through consistent route cause analysis.  In adopting the ISO 9001 standard, we have created and manage a continuous improvement process which ensures a consistent drum beat of change and improvement throughout the business, managed very carefully in conjunction with commercial, operational and technical delivery to our customers. 

With a strong effort from the whole team at Klarian, we received our ISO 9001 certificate of registration on the 14 August 2023.  Last week we hosted a Continuous Assessment Visit (CAV) from the BSI auditors, and received another strong recommendation for continued certification.  This demonstrates that the systems put in place in the business to manage change are working.  Nonetheless, in the spirit of continuous improvement we are not resting on our laurels, and we continue to adapt and improve how we deliver first time, every time to the customer.  After all, "to improve is to change".

By Dave Nicholson, Klarian's COO