New approach on building a management system
In the past, the quality manual used to be a separate book or document file, but today's management system is easily and systematically built to directly support the everyday life of the organization. The new SaaS based solution Kiwa Comply™ interprets standard’s requirements in an understandable manner to a digital form and enables organizations to independently pursue better quality management.
The development of the service started already in 2015, when Kiwa Finland's own quality management system was developed. At that time, the need to get the documentation of different organisations into one digital form was identified. In 2018, Kiwa gained new expertise in software development through a merger, after which both quality management, certification and software expertise have been found under the same roof. When digital services and advanced methods became part of Kiwa's strategy in 2021, the path to building Comply opened.
Quality management and processes as part of the organization’s everyday life
Laura Lindholm, Business Development Manager at Kiwa said: "Often organizations have a separate quality manual. Kiwa Comply™, on the other hand, guides the user to do things close to the business and is directly connected to different data repositories. The service is an easy-to-understand tool to meet the desired requirements.”
Laura continues: “We have received positive feedback from pilot customers, especially regarding usability and comprehensibility. Kiwa Comply™ currently covers the themes of the ISO 9001 management system. It is suitable as a solution for practically all organizations as a quality management tool. The following management systems, such as ISO 14001, ISO 45001 and ISO/IEC 27001, as well as other sets of requirements, are already in the making and will be added to the SaaS solution. Of course, Comply can also be implemented without certification targets."
Kiwa Comply™ saves time and brings together information resources
"One of the key benefits of the service is the extensive description and guidance material it contains on the dozens and even hundreds of requirements of the standards, and the connections between them," describes Product Owner and Lead Auditor Jyrki Lahnalahti. "These guidance texts help understanding the requirements as part of a larger whole and thus speed up the planning and implementation of processes and procedures. The maintenance of a quality system becomes easier when, for example, the practices related to change management are consistent and it is easier to keep the amount of documentation needed reasonable."
The service helps to understand to which requirements and procedures the documented information is related to. The documented information is compiled for the organisation’s own benefit and not, for example, for the sake of certification alone. The already created and stored data can be linked directly to Comply. This operating model eases the maintenance of information and the management of access to it.
Comply is an easy-to-use and time-saving solution for building a quality system. It motivates the user, as it shows the progress of the development of the quality system both at the top level and on a requirement basis. The service also has an annual planner, which makes it easier to plan and monitor tasks. With the help of the annual planner, it is possible to schedule different tasks according to your own organization, in which case it helps to perceive the whole on an annual level.
Digital solutions support Kiwa's strategy
Kiwa has a digital services business area. Its mission is to maintain and develop digital services as a whole, both at the national level in Finland and together with the entire Kiwa Group. Kiwa Comply™ is a clear continuum of business solutions, and it is backed by the same strong SaaS expertise as, for example, the safety app solution Kiwa Impact. The development of digital services is also an important part of Kiwa Finland's strategy.
"We are very excited to be able to bring to the market a new kind of customer-oriented way to support the construction and maintenance of quality systems to meet the requirements. One of our goals in our strategy is to provide high-quality solutions to improve our customers' competitiveness and to promote digital services. Comply offers all of this," says Mikko S Törmänen, Managing Director of Kiwa's Education and Digital Services.