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In December 2006, City-Hals CJSC, affiliated with Sistema-Hals, a subsidiary of AFK Sistema, received ISO 9001:2000 certification. This event completed a lengthy process of development, implementation and, finally, auditing of the quality management system (QMS). ISO 9001:2000 certification gives the consumer confidence that the organization has a quality management system that combines production processes, a qualified team, organizational and technological measures, plans, and documentation. An unambiguous signal is sent to the market: the company has created a basis for achieving its business goals.
Repetition of the Past
The history of certification dates back to the second half of the 1940s. Like most publicly available developments today, the idea originated in the depths of the military-industrial complex. The US Department of Defense, when placing its orders, was faced with the fact that the deadlines for many contracts were violated.
A special commission found that in pursuit of profitable orders, entrepreneurs took on obligations that they obviously could not fulfill. It became necessary to check the capabilities of the company at the stage of signing the contract. Incidentally, the USSR faced a similar problem at one time. But if our country followed the path of creating a military acceptance, which, in fact, performed the functions of an independent from local quality control department managers, the Americans chose a different tactic.
First, it was considered justified not to fight defects, but to eliminate the causes that cause them. It was decided to oblige the management of enterprises to take on certain obligations. At first, this was a simple requirement to check each contract for feasibility, then carefully document and analyze each complaint, carry out measures aimed at preventing cases of repeated defects, etc.
Gradually, a set of these rules developed into a whole quality management system.
It was immediately stipulated that the QMS is not a quality control department, but resolves issues at a deeper systemic level. The entire process of developing the system took about half a century.
The first standard MIL-Q-9858 defining what a QMS should be like appeared in 1959. Currently, the ISO 9001:2000 standard is used, the last digits indicate the year of its release by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). A significant difference of the new edition is the requirement for continuous improvement of the standard and the approach to describing the enterprise based on business processes. In conclusion of the historical excursion, it is necessary to recall that in our country in 1972 the Integrated Quality Management System (ICS QMS) was developed, many provisions of which were transferred to ISO 9001.
What is ISO 9001 and the Quality Management System?
The ISO 9001:2000 standard summarizes the useful management experience and achievements of companies around the world. It is important to understand that the standard defines requirements not for the product or service itself, but for the management of the organization's activities, which should ensure a predictable stable level of quality.
Compliance with the standard is the key to good enterprise management, including the stability of its business, readiness to promptly resolve emerging problems, and effectively respond to changes in external conditions.
Which certificate should I choose?
The certificates themselves are not issued by ISO, but by specialized certification bodies that have the necessary accreditation with national, usually state, standardization bodies (state standards).
In Russia, the standard is localized, there is a version of ISO 9001:2001 GOST R, but, unfortunately, these certificates are not always and not fully recognized at the international level.
The management of City-Hals CJSC initially set itself the task of obtaining a certificate that would be recognized by the world's leading players in the real estate market. We are really aware that Russia will soon become a member of the WTO, which means that we will have to compete with foreign companies that will come to our market with their many years of experience, technologies, and management.
Domestic enterprises must compete with them on equal terms, and not only in the domestic market.
A certificate is mandatory for work in the countries of the European Union. Now it is important not only to work efficiently, but also to prove it in a civilized manner.
The value of a specific certificate is determined solely by the authority of the organization that has put its brand on the paper. It is no secret that recently, many “offices” have appeared that simply trade certificates for a relatively small amount of money. The benefit of such a certificate is exactly as much as the cost of the paper it is printed on.
The advantage of an international certification agency is that it values its reputation and does not hand out papers left and right.
Our main goal was to have a truly working Quality Management System. That is why we chose Det Norske Veritas (DNV), a company founded in 1864 that operates worldwide. It has 6,400 employees in more than 100 countries. The DNV Global Network connects all DNV offices, including the head office in Oslo, Norway, with highly efficient technology. DNV's clients in Russia include companies that are part of the holdings RUSSIAN ALUMINIUM, GAZPROM, 1C, MARS, Boeing Design Center, Apteka Service, PSI Pharma, Konti Construction Corporation, Petersburgstroy Skanska, Giprostroymost Institute, Samara Gypsum Plant, Avtopribor, Volvo Truck Corporation (Zelenograd), Scania (St. Petersburg), Gilette (St. Petersburg), St. Petersburg Mint, Zvezdochka Machine-Building Enterprise (Severodvinsk), Vyborg Shipyard, Rolton, Lebedyansky EKZ, Inmarko Refrigeration Plant, Novoship, Rosnefteflot.
What did the certificate give us?
The central question that every manager asks himself: will ISO 9001 certification increase profits?
Of course, it would be naive to say that the next day after receiving the certificate, a line of customers will form outside the company's office. When making decisions on implementation, the company's management takes into account two aspects.
External aspect:
penetration into new markets where certification is necessary or desirable;
increasing the authority and prestige of the company;
improving the terms of joint-stock company, using the advertising effect.
Internal aspect:
prevention of quality-related losses.
At the same time, research conducted by the UK Department of Trade and Industry showed that 48% of certified companies increased profits, 89% increased production efficiency, and 76% of firms strengthened their market positions. On average, a company's market capitalization increases by 5-10%.
At the development stage, there were concerns that the company's work would be further bureaucratized, and the QMS itself “would interfere with work.” At the same time, the first steps of real implementation have already shown that, thanks to documenting processes, work is streamlined, and each stage becomes transparent and visible. In the event of a replacement of the responsible executor, the project can be easily transferred to another manager.
Why did this need to be done?
A transparent management system is necessary for successful management of an organization.
The QMS is based on eight principles:
1) customer focus;
2) Leadership of the manager;
3) Employee involvement;
4) Process approach;
5) Systems approach to management;
6) Continuous improvement;
7) Decision-making based on facts;
8) Mutually beneficial relationships with suppliers.
Implementation of these principles provides City-Hals CJSC with optimization of management and technological decisions, ensuring control at all stages of production, and rational selection of contractors.
The time of implementation and certification in ZAO City-Gals coincided with the period of dynamic development of the company. Initially, when the company employed 15-20 people, it was possible to do without prescribed business processes, strict document flow, work instructions. Over the past two years, the company's revenue has grown 7 times, the number of employees has tripled. In this situation, the implementation of the QMS caused a synergistic effect: the company's document flow is improving, control over the implementation of decisions is improving, the planning system is developing, all production processes are being detailed, and interaction between departments is improving. Now we understand that even if we had received the certificate before the start of growth, we would still have to restructure the QMS to fit the actual volumes of the organization.
“Sistema-Gals” is a Russian development company, part of AFK Sistema. The asset portfolio includes
five commercial properties, 14 residential properties in Moscow and the Moscow region, 64 projects at various stages of implementation with a total area of over 3 million square meters in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kazan, as well as 102 hectares of land in the Moscow region. Revenue for the first nine months of 2006 was $161.1 million (for the first nine months of 2005 – $35.5 million),
net profit – $34 million ($1.4 million). The main shareholders are AFK Sistema (69.4%) and Luxembourg Ecu Gest
Holding (10.9%). Market capitalization on the London Stock Exchange on March 9, 2007 — $2.6 billion.
CJSC City-Hals is one of the leading companies in the Moscow real estate market. The company has its
branches in St. Petersburg and Krasnodar, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Kazan. The total area of the properties where the
company operates is more than 500 thousand square meters. The company works with various
types of real estate, transactions with which are extremely complex and require special knowledge in the
field of finance, law and the market. The company manages the business center “Hals-Tower” (12 thousand square meters)
Author: Vladimir Alekseevich Sorokin. Head of the Business Planning Department at City-Hals.
Graduated from the Moscow Polygraphic Institute and the All-Russian Academy of Foreign Trade. Since 2003, he has been working
in the companies of AFK Sistema, since 2004 in City-Hals CJSC, responsible for the implementation of the ISO 9001:20 standard |
