Understanding your customers may seem like a no-brainer, but talking with company leaders across various industries the past seven years demonstrate just how difficult this can be in practice. One of the newest requirements to both ISO 2015 & AS9100 2016 is expanding the whole concept of who is a customer. The traditional definition of a customer is organizations that pay us for our product. The new requirement is to define the “Interested Parties” to the business, and to identify what their needs are.
Interested Parties are defined as any party that has an interest in how your company performs. This includes traditional customers, but also adds parties such as owners/stakeholders, employees, suppliers, banks, and the community. Only parties that have an interest in how your company performs and impact the QMS need be examined, although this should be a very short list. Because, as I preach to my clients, a “B” can be functionally swapped out for the “Q” in QMS as it is actually a Business Management System for the entirety of the organization.
How can this help? Excellent question, because any requirement comes with the expectation that something must be done. A simple analysis at the next management review meeting will suffice, using a tool such as my attached Interested Parties Worksheet. Refreshing this activity then becomes an annual exercise.
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