Minister of Small Business, Entrepreneurship and Commerce, Dwight Sutherland, addressing the start of the ISO/TC 176 Quality Management and Quality Assurance workshop at Hilton Barbados today. (GP)

The virtues of being ISO 9001 certified were touted on Monday, as Minister of Small Business, Entrepreneurship and Commerce, Dwight Sutherland, addressed the start of the ISO/TC 176 Quality Management and Quality Assurance workshop.

It was held by the Barbados National Standards Institution (BNSI), at Hilton Barbados, Needhams Point, St. Michael.

Minister Sutherland told a packed audience of local, regional and international delegates that there were benefits to be had from instituting ISO 9001, which he could speak of from his own experience in the private sector at Arawak Cement Company Ltd.

He said: “The whole aspect of implementing ISO 9001, what I call one of the tenets of business process engineering, … was a level of motivation from the employees because they were able to follow a process.  It was able to position the company I was in to raise its standards and its products that were transported overseas.

“We saw a different level of operation after we implemented ISO 9001; not only motivation but the whole business processes; it became a way of life. As you walked through the gate you knew not only the quality of product, but how our business processes intertwined with each other, in terms of synergies and efficiencies.  The effectiveness and staff morale, they became all tenets of implementing the ISO 9001 certification.”

The Minister added that local and regional businesses stood to benefit as they would become global players.

ISO is an independent, non-governmental international organization that has members from 164 national standards bodies, including the BNSI, which represents Barbados. 

As part of the ISO Action Plan for developing countries 2016-2020, ISO recognizes the increased and effective participation of developing countries as a priority, and specific assistance is needed to fully exploit the value of standards in support of this development.

The five-day workshop focuses attention on concepts in Quality Management and the integrity of the ISO 9001 Brand, which is widely used in Barbados, and is accepted as an internationally recognized certification, ensuring quality of products and services of businesses.

joy-ann.gill@barbados.gov.bb

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