Picture of Sonali Karnik

This month in our five minutes with series, we talk to Sonali Karnik, Quality Manager Medisafe International

The best advice I could give to help improve your management system…
You have to be passionate about quality and confident in what you are doing but most important be sure of what you want to achieve and have a plan mapped for it. Without this you will struggle to find top management support. A strong backup and involvement from the top management is crucial to run the quality management system. And of course a good team is vital to ensure execution and deliverance of the plan. Quality is not a standalone function or something to be shoved in the corner and forgotten about. Creating awareness and spreading the concept of quality at every level is paramount. A blend of supportive top management, good teamwork and passion to drive quality will not only help to improve the management system but form strong pillars for continuous improvement.

The best part of my job is…
Medisafe designs and manufactures specialized products for decontaminating complex surgical instruments. There are both capital equipment and consumable / disposable products amongst the range, that address new hi-tech surgical techniques. So as a quality Manager it’s a big task for me to ensure that our products are of highest quality and meet our customers’ expectations. Spreading the concept of quality and doing things right first time is what I enjoy. Mahatma Gandhi once said “Happiness is when what you think, what you say and what you do are in harmony”. I see my job in the same light. I think and believe in quality and I work to spread it across. That’s why the best part of my job is working as a Quality professional!!

The biggest challenge facing ISO 9001 is…
There are a couple of challenges for ISO 9001

  • Having policies and objectives defined as per the standard yet organizations struggle in understanding how to achieve these
  • Lack of agreement and support from top management
  • Cost involved in obtaining and maintaining the standard

The biggest challenge I would say is getting everyone to unlearn what they have been doing for long and getting used to a set system.
The upcoming ISO9001:2015 will have its own set of challenges such as change management, not requiring documented procedures or manuals to name a few.

If you could learn to do anything, what would it be?
Swimming…. I would like to learn to swim. I almost drowned when I was 9 years old. Ever since I have always struggled to learn to swim. I would like to overcome the fear associated with it.

If you had no money, health, people or geographical limitations what would be an average day in your life look like?
Wow! No health and financial concerns- love that! All sounds interesting.
I would work on projects to feed the hungry & provide drinking water to the underprivileged. Start educational institutes/schools for those who have no access to education. Just strive to make this world a better place for all. I would like to work/volunteer and contribute to the society in whichever way I can.
Unlimited funds and no geographical boundaries would be an immense help to achieve this. I will be able to travel far and near and to places I have never been before and at the same time reach out to all those who I can help. I can pull up an excellent team and actually put my plan into action.
I want to go into the space to see the complete earth from there, so that would be top on my list followed by seeing the Northern lights. Would go to Antarctica/Arctic and exotic locations with pristine natural beauty with my loved ones.
So on my average day I would spend time working on the above projects, quality time with my friends and family, travelling perhaps or time for myself.