The internet of things (IoT), robotics, augmented reality, 3D printing... look at megatrends, and despite their unique attributes and myriad differences, you’ll find that they all have one thing in common: time—or more precisely, the fact that there’s always less of it.

No matter how long your sales cycle, or how many years you’ve been in business, your company’s clock as well as your deadline dates are ticking. Those little notches between seconds seem to be shrinking. One of the hidden traps in all this time compression is that rushing to do things more quickly introduces its own set of new risks. Cut a corner here, dispense with a best practice there, and soon enough you’re spending your time correcting mistakes caused by “hurry up” instead of harvesting the benefits of high-speed organizational competency.

In this pressure cooker, the smartest way to save time is to do things the right way from the beginning, each time and every time. Management system standards provide that platform, whether it be ISO 9001 for quality, ISO 14001 for environmental management, or others for industry-specific challenges, such as IATF 16949 for the automotive industry, AS9100 Rev. D for aerospace, or ISO 13485 for medical devices. The list goes on and on.

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