Editor’s note: This article discusses topics covered at greater length in episodes 19–23 of a new streaming video training series, Creating and Sustaining Lean Improvements—Integrating Principles, Culture, and Tools by the author and 360 Performance Circle, a sister company to Quality Digest. Check out the video at the end of the article, or click here to learn more.

The waste involved in having multiple systems serving the same purpose can be enormous. This is true in so many companies that are practicing lean and using an ISO 9001-based quality management system (QMS). The new revision to ISO 9001, expected to be published in 2015, will contain many major changes. It will also provide your company with an opportunity to merge lean practices into your QMS, thus making both systems more effective and driving out the system waste that is inherent in multiple systems with similar purposes.

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