An Integrated Management System (IMS) can be defined as an arrangement which integrate every process and system of an organisation into a single complete structure. The benefits of an Integrated Management System is that it perform as a single entity with shared objectives instead of individual ones. IMS is an organisational approach which can be very effective in making work simpler, avoiding conflicts and decreasing documents duplication.
Benefits of Integrated Management Systems
When an organisation makes a decision to integrate its management systems, then the real benefits begin to transpire. We can find plenty of examples which prove the fact that integration of management systems is extremely valuable for various entities. The first benefit of an IMS, is that it allows an organisation to utilise one set of documentation. We can compare that having only one set of documentation and integrated management system, is easier to manage compared to having two, three or four sets of guidelines. It also implies the fact that an organisation need to train its workforce in one integrated system rather than several individual ones. We can learn a lot from each individual standard of quality, health and safety and environment amongst others. By getting these teams to work together as one function is a lot better than separate team working in a silo mode.
Increased Consistency
The benefits of integrated management systems are plenty. Another important benefit of an IMS is establish consistency. When an integrated approach is used by an organisation, then it can form improved uniformity in its management system. Once consistency has been created, the system will automatically turn out to be less difficult and for that reason become easier to understand. Consistency allows an organisation to have a better focus on accomplishing a combined set of objectives. This plays an important part in supporting an organisations strategy. In the same way an IMS also helps in improving an organisation’s performance, as integration of management systems will positively improve productivity, quality, risk, and safety amongst others.
Reduced Bureaucracy
A very significant benefit of Integrated Management Systems is that it reduces bureaucracy in an organisation. In scenarios of implementing various management standards in the absence of integration, different problems arise based on the inability to make decisions due to the hierarchal layers. An organisation is able to encompass a systematic approach once the management systems are integrated properly. The element of bureaucracy is decreased when changes and decisions can be made without problems. Providing process owners with a cross-functional team can be highly valuable as it result in an effective approach.
Cost Effective Benefits of Integrated Management Systems
Furthermore, additional benefits of integrated management systems include cost reduction, as it allows organisations to perform integrated audits, evaluations, process enhancement and share resources. When we integrate the management systems, it is reducing the time to carry out specific activities and consequently it eliminates costs. This also goes for the maintenance of the management systems I terms of a reduced resource requirement. Maintenance means the continuing compliance checks and confirming that an organisation is meeting the requirements of management system standards. In the presence of an integrated management system, the requirements can be upheld simultaneously. This make the process more efficient, letting the organisation address improvements instead of keeping up numerous separate systems.
If you are interested in implementing an Integrated Management System or integrating the ones you already have in place, then please contact us for a free consultation.
