Introduction/Overview

Integrated Management System (IMS) is integration of various management systems and processes that an organization presently follows or intends to follow. This concept stems with the ever evolving and constantly changing global market scenario where businesses are no more restricted to certain geographical setup hence there is widespread variation in demands related to regulatory bodies and societal needs related to quality, environment, occupational health and safety, etc. ISO has also evolved over the years catering to expanding market and thus the concept of IMS also emerged where one unified management system is created that streamlines with all management systems that an organization intends to implement. IMS ensures that consistency in the processes and systems that have been established are maintained, ensuring efficiency and reduction in complexities.

Purpose/Importance

The main purpose of the IMS for any organization is to 

• Formulate a system that complies with required management standard 

• Minimize redundancies

• Streamline Processes and Operations

• Efficient Management System

• Continual Improvement

In most of the organizations, there are designated teams that deal with each of the management system and work in individual silos. The number of existing standards is huge and require a whole lot of consistent efforts to implement or sustain end-to-end requirements. Integrated Management System becomes the ultimate solution where business viability and customer demands are both catered on the same platform.

Components/ Important Aspects to be Covered

Main key components of the IMS are:

1. Context of the Organisation: Organisation must ensure external and internal factors that impact the integrated system in consideration including needs and expectations of the interested parties along with actions to address risks and opportunities across vertical such as quality, environment, OH&S management system, etc.
   
   

2. Leadership and Commitment: Commitment from leadership is very important for the success of IMS. Employees look upon the commitment by leadership that further fuel the implementation process. Correct and timely resource allocation is the key.
   
   

3. Policy: A commitment by leadership on the quality, occupational health and safety, environmental factors that organisation as a whole is working towards. This is not just a document but it becomes the base for taking up organisation goals and objectives along with management plan.
   
   

4. Planning: Planning is an important step. Defining goals and objectives for the organisation along measurable targets for quality, environment, and OH&S management system, etc. This takes into account various factors that impact risk and opportunities impact the goals and objectives that organisation has set such as customer requirements, assessing risks related to OH&S to environmental factors of the work, etc. This will help mitigate any surprises and business risks too in the course.
   
   

5. Implementation: Resource availability, timely communication, strong learning and development structure is the base for implementing IMS. Resources can be human, machines, material, timely permits, etc all that need to work together in unison for a successful project.
   
   

6. Monitoring, Measurement, Review and Continual Improvement: Tracking, monitoring and timely actions taken to ensure requirements across IMS are met is important. In the course of this, there are improvement activities also that are taken up to self-improve the system.
   
   

7. Documents and Record Management: Integrated Management Systems involves ample document and records. Developing a consistent method of creating a document/record, storage, retrieval and disposal is very crucial. Access to relevant document and records is crucial. Organisation also have taken a digital route to create, store and archive documents and records. 
   
   

8. Audits: One way to cross check effective implementation of IMS are the audits. It can be an internal or an external audit. It provides a means to look beyond the usual and start to question the usual. The more we dive deep into removing gaps in our systems, the better our systems are bound to become. It definitely takes times since it involves resources, sometimes beyond control but we continue to do it.
    

9. Corrective and Preventive Actions: During the course of activities at workplace be it related to QMS, EMS, etc there will be deviations, non-conformities, incidents that are going to take place. The process of establishing actions to correct it now and prevent such occurrence in the future as well is the key. Ultimately these occurrences are lagging indicators for the organisation, more in numbers would result in putting reputation at stake.
   
   

10. Continual Improvement: Organisation has to establishing processes for continual improvement across quality, environment, OH&S management system, etc. This can be by utilizing findings from various audits, other monitoring mechanisms and reviews to undertake corrective and preventive actions.

Steps for the Implementation/Guide

For effective IMS implementation, following are few steps: 

1. Finalising on the scope of IMS: This means organisation has to decide on which management systems it is intending to integrate such as ISO 22001, ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001, etc Once the scope is frozen, further steps can take shape.
   
   

2. Formation of a Team: Cross functional team formation and training that covers all three standards under considerations for IMS. This training can initially be an awareness, then a certified internal auditor training and eventually few can undergo certified lead auditor training.
   
   

3. Plan: Prior implementation of IMS, a detailed plan needs to be laid out. It has to start with an IMS manual preparation and then proceed clause by clause across the 3 management systems being considered. This will help to ensure all actions points that are required are taken into account. Ensure to have timelines along with responsibilities assigned at this stage itself.
    

4. Review Meetups: Ensure to meet with the team formed periodically. This will help to keep track of the progress as per decided timelines and also about challenges that team might be facing.
   
   

5. Documentation: Documentation is a crucial element in the entire process. Ensure to pay special attention to each document prepared. These documents will take shape into reality eventually so it needs to be as per standard requirement. If this is the first time a management system is being established then the best way is to align skeleton of the documents prior to proceeding with your leadership which can involve key leaders from compliance, legal, IT,etc. if there is an existing management system in place and certain documents are already developed, the best way is to scour through the developed ones and sort the one that can be used as it is, some that need modification and some that might become obsolete. This exercise will help cut down on time in developing new processes.
   
   

6. Implementation: Once the plan is being executed as per timelines, ensure to start implementing the same at organisational level. This will also help get feedback on the improvements in the due course that need to be taken. 
   
   

7. Audits: One cycle of internal audits are mandatory before an organisation approaches certification agency to conduct an audit. Even before you conduct a internal audit, start with self-review of documents and then on ground implementation of each department. 
   
   

8. Continual Improvement: In the course of implementation, organisation is expected to improve processes through internal stakeholders feedback or devise a mechanism to obtain such feedback.

   

Best Practices/Benefits

IMS provides an organization array of benefits from tangible to non-tangible gains.

1. Unified Approach: When the goal and objectives of the organization are clear, it becomes a solid foundation on which IMS builds. This allows for bringing everyone, right from leadership to operations team to the same ground. 
   
   
2. Process-oriented Organization: A streamlined system with defined roles and responsibilities brings everyone on the same platform and decisions taken would be cohesive since any cross functional differences or issues are discussed not as a standalone topic but the overall impact in various ways that it might be having on the output of the organization. Also improves communication and decision making down the line in the value chain.
   
   
3. Maximize Productivity: IMS is bound to maximize the productivity of not just the operations but the people, machines, equipment, etc. It has a 360-degree impact on the organization. ISO standard does not ask for separate procedures to be established if an organization has started the path of implementation. Instead, it is upto the organization to establish a process to integrate but ensure the requirements of applicable standards are complied. Processes are eventually optimized.
   
   
4. Eliminating Duplication: Single most important benefit of IMS is eliminating duplication, not just in the documents/records but also multiple reviews that management or the leadership had to conduct to review effectiveness of standards individually. One single management system that includes unified policy, goals and objectives, etc. save a lot of time, effort and money.
   
   
5. Defined Roles and Responsibility: This is a such a strategic benefit for the organization. Better defined roles in the beginning itself means accountability thus less time spent in figuring out assigning roles on the go. Clear accountability translates into more productive working environment and less interference. 
   
   
6. Consistency: IMS approach provides an organization to create more consistent singular management system. This results in less complexity of processes, easy to understand and more focused approach towards organizational goals in large. Consistency here means even in the tiniest factors such as a common format for training records, common processes of training needs identification, communications, resource planning etc. When consistent processes are maintained to that level is when gaps between standard requirements and actual on ground implementation shrink.
   
   
7. Cost-Effectiveness: Organization’s productivity also lies on the fact how effectively one manages resources. IMS allows to integrate processes, optimizing manpower utilization, maximize machine utilizations, integrated assessments and audits and at the same time optimize on resources too. IMS helps in eliminating redundant processes, saves time and reduces cost eventually. This also means one can have one single certification audit as per the periodicity rather than engaging resources multiple times during the year. 
   
   
8. Reduction in effort of Maintenance: IMS once implemented, is not a one-time task, it needs to be ensured that implemented processes are effective throughout. This is difficult in the case when multiple management systems are implemented and not integrated. IMS allows the organization to establish/integrate existing processes in line with requirements and then on focus on continual improvement.
    
   
9. Certification Audit: IMS allows for integrated certification audits by auditing agencies thus saves efforts, money and time for all. Usually, certification audit man-days depend on the size of organization and manpower. In an average organization of 250 employees, it is usually 3 man-days with almost 3 auditors at the same time. If an organization were to have different certifications and thus separate audits, the amount of money and time spend is huge. Also, even if separate audits were happening, impact of one system on the other remained a grey area and it was not assessed too. IMS fills such gaps and ensure a holistic approach.
   

Conclusion

IMS (Integrating Management System) provides businesses an opportunity to by streamline the processes, reduce costs, develop consistency in the approach and continually improve. Overall, IMS has been a great force in inculcating a culture of continual improvement, contribute to add value to interested parties and help manage the overall business risk and opportunities.