Developing a framework for certification of ISO 9001 for the electrical equipment manufacturing industry in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Implementing an effective Quality Management system (QMS) benefits organizations in many ways, such as improving customer satisfaction, compliance, cost control, continuous improvement, effective decision-making, employee engagement, boosted revenue, etc. With the records available in the Sri Lanka Standards Institute (SLSI) and the experience gained by the author while conducting audits, it became evident that Sri Lankan Electrical Equipment Manufacturers (EEM) are not geared to get certification for their entire production scope. Therefore, there is a need to encourage electrical equipment manufacturers to obtain ISO 9001 certification by removing the inertia to get the certification for the full production scope. However, no frameworks or similar tools are available to guide manufacturers to obtain certification for the full scope. Therefore, this research focused on developing a framework to guide electrical equipment manufacturers to obtain ‘ISO 9001 certification’ for the entire scope of their production. The information on the study was gathered by conducting a questionnaire survey to find the current implementation status of ISO 9001 certification for EEM and to identify the barriers to implementing certification. Descriptive analysis and the Chi-Squire test were used to sort significant barriers among 16 previously identified barriers categorized under five topics. The study revealed that all the barriers that fell under the two categories, unawareness and organization culture, significantly affect the level of implementation of ISO 9001 certification in EEM. The identified barriers were analyzed separately, and a logical framework was developed. The Initial Framework proposed was validated by a questionnaire survey conducted among selected manufacturers before preparing the final framework. The validated framework is proposed to serve as a guideline to overcome the barriers of the EEM industry to obtaining full-scope ISO 9001 certification in Sri Lanka.