From findings to fixes, how digitalisation strengthens ISO 9001 Chapter 6 compliance

When organisations prepare for ISO 9001 audits, planning often seems like a straightforward topic.

Yet, data from DNV’s Lumina database shows it remains one of the most challenging areas to get right.

Between 2023 and 2025, more than half of all organisations audited had non-conformities linked to Chapter 6 – Planning, and Clause 6.1 (Actions to address risks and opportunities) ranked as the second most common finding across all ISO 9001 audits.

These figures highlight a recurring issue: organisations understand what the standard requires but struggle to embed it in daily operations.

Why planning still fails

Most companies can identify their risks and opportunities. The real difficulty lies in maintaining structure and follow-up. Common challenges include:

Risk registers that live in spreadsheets or separate systems.
Actions tracked manually, with unclear ownership or due dates.
Limited visibility for management on progress or effectiveness.

This makes it hard to demonstrate a systematic approach, both to auditors and to leadership teams looking for evidence of improvement.

Clause 6.1 is not about listing risks; it’s about showing how they’re managed. That means having a consistent way to evaluate, prioritise, and act on them whilst showing that those actions are delivering results.

Where digitalisation makes the difference

Digital risk management tools can bridge the gap between audit requirements and everyday operations. By linking risk identification, evaluation, and action planning within one workflow, they help organisations move from fragmented spreadsheets to a single, auditable process.

For example, Synergi Life MyRisks -DNV’s ready-to-use digital risk management solution - supports this structured approach by enabling users to:

Identify and document risks and opportunities consistently.
Assign actions to responsible individuals and follow up on progress.
Track risk treatment and improvement measures in real time.
Generate audit-ready records that demonstrate compliance with ISO 9001 Clause 6.1.

The result is not just fewer non-conformities, but greater confidence that risks and opportunities are being addressed systematically and transparently.

Turning compliance into improvement

Digitalisation transforms Clause 6 from a compliance requirement into a source of organisational learning. With tools that capture every stage of the process, from identifying a risk to closing an action, management teams gain better insight into where plans succeed or stall.

This visibility allows organisations to take preventive action earlier, improve planning quality over time, and link performance data directly to strategic objectives.

In other words, what starts as an effort to reduce audit findings can quickly become a driver of continual improvement and stronger decision-making.

From data to action

The insights from Lumina show where organisations most often fall short; the tools like Synergi Life MyRisks help close those gaps.

Together, they provide a powerful combination of evidence and enablement using trusted audit data to pinpoint weaknesses, and digital solutions to turn findings into measurable improvements.

By digitalising planning and risk management, organisations can turn one of the most common sources of non-conformities into a proven strength achieving both compliance and confidence in how they manage risk.

Discover how Synergi Life My Risk can support your organisation

Enable proactive risk management with Synergi Life My Risks. Achieve ISO compliance, improve management system performance, and drive informed decisions.