ISO 9001 Certification Process [PDF]

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ISO 9001 CERTIFICATION PROCESS First, allow me to define ISO 9001 in brief. The ISO or the International Organization for Standardization, is a set of requirements that directs companies in the implementation of a quality management system (QMS). It helps businesses and organisations to be more efficient and improve customer satisfaction. • An independent and accredited registrar issues the ISO 9001 certificate after successful verification that a company has implemented an ISO 9001 quality management system and follows all its requirements in daily operations. • Once the company has completed all ISO 9001 documentation (including the allimportant quality manual and quality procedures), the company may apply for ISO 9001 certification. • the company needs to have the entire ISO 9001 quality management system implemented, which includes the entire ISO 9001 documentation and following all the requirements stipulated in the documentation. • Before the certification audit can be performed and the ISO 9001 certification be issued, the company needs to meet two conditions: 1) Perform one complete internal ISO 9001 audit. Such an internal audit is performed internally by one or more company employees who verify that their company in fact follows the requirements described in the ISO 9001 documentation. 2) Secondly, the company needs to have a track record of operating according to ISO 9001 requirements; most registrars require about 2 months of track record • Certification Audit. Once the above requirements are fulfilled, an accredited ISO 9001 registrar will have an auditor (or a team of auditors) perform two audits: 1) A documentation audit, in which the ISO 9001 registrar verifies that the company’s quality manual and quality procedures meet the requirements of ISO 9001:2015. This audit can be passed easily if you based your ISO 9001 documentation on good templates. 2) An onsite audit at the company, in which the ISO 9001 registrar verifies that the organization operates according to its ISO 9001 documentation and to ISO 9001:2015 requirements. As part of this “external audit”, the auditor will randomly check records, interview management and staff and observe employees perform their work. The goal is to establish evidence that the company meets all ISO 9001:2015 requirements. In case the auditor identifies problems, or so-called non-conformities, the company will have the opportunity to correct the non-conformities. • ISO 9001 Certificate. If no significant gaps to the ISO 9001:2015 requirements are discovered (or if any discovered gaps have been corrected), the ISO 9001 registrar issues the prestigious ISO 9001 certification. The ISO 9001 certificate is typically valid for three years and can then be easily renewed. A condition for continued validity of the ISO 9001 certification is that periodic so-called surveillance audits are conducted by the ISO 9001 registrar, and that those surveillance audits show continued ISO 9001 compliance (again the company has an opportunity to correct any non-conformities). Surveillance audits are usually conducted every 6-12 months; they are much smaller in scope, time and

cost than the initial certification audit. • The time to implement ISO 9001 and reach certification depends very much on you and your company. The fastest is 2-3 months because most ISO 9001 registrars require at least 2 months ISO 9001 track record before the certification audit. • A more realistic estimate may be this – but there are many “if’s”: ⁃ if you have a relatively small company (say, less than 20 employees); ⁃ if your employees are motivated and if they don’t oppose change (employee buy-in is crucial, and employees must be involved from the beginning; consider an ISO 9001 introduction video presentation); ⁃ if you have the backing of all senior executives (which you will likely only get if they understand ISO 9001 and its benefits to the company; consider a training course); ⁃ if you and other managers are ready to put significant time and efforts into the ISO 9001 implementation endeavour, and; ⁃ if you use a really good pre-written template for your ISO 9001 quality manual and quality procedures, as well as good pre-written forms and checklists, then you may be able to get your organization certified in as short as 3-4 months. •

Some companies are significantly slower, with 6-12 months not being unusual. However, companies that write their quality manual and quality procedures from scratch, rather than base them on a good template, often take as long as 2 years and longer.

IMPORTANCE OF ISO CERTIFIED COMPANY • An ISO certified company meets its clients’ needs and requirements. Customer satisfaction is very important, being the ultimate goal of the quality management system (QMS). There may be companies with this type of certification, but there’s no much improvement or quality. • An ISO certified company gets more revenue and business from new customers. ISO certification boosts a company’s quality products or services and requests for quotes. It also opens new markets and new profit opportunities. • An ISO certified company improves company and product quality. ISO 9001 certification = quality for the entire company, including service and every product. • An ISO certified company means increased customer satisfaction with your products and services. It means everything you produce is adapted to what your customers expect. Additionally, you’ll meet more than their implied requirements. Nevertheless, quality also means fewer complaints and doing things better to solve issues. In short, you have to ensure increased customer satisfaction. • An ISO certified company communicates your company processes. It means your company has to identify and describe your processes using what is called business metrics. These are used to communicate and understand your system’s performance. It’s also an opportunity to learn more about your business. • An ISO certified company develops a professional culture and employee

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morale. ISO certification provides your employees with clear expectations, which are job descriptions and quality objectives, offering actionable feedback on their performance and the tools to do their job. An ISO certified company saves money, reduces waste and improves efficiency, and achieves your target objectives with better regularity in order to achieve great results. An ISO certified company achieves international quality recognition. ISO 9001 is used by more than 1 million organisations around the world. Therefore, these benefits are great and increase your chances to improve your company, reputation and have long-term clients.

BENEFITS OF BEING ISO CERTIFIED 1) Internal Improvement. ISO 9001 is an excellent tool to develop a strong foundation of best practices, effective business processes and integrated, efficient business systems. Business processes and systems are essential for the performance and expansion of any company. Almost automatically with the improvement of business processes according to ISO 9001:2015 requirements, companies can observe quality improvements, less scrap and expensive rework, and more satisfied customers. Ultimately, ISO 9001 will have a positive impact on the bottom line. Remember, the ISO 9001 standard was developed in order to give companies a real, practical tool to improve their business. 2) Marketing. The ISO 9001 certification has become an important and powerful marketing tool. No other quality standard is as well-known worldwide as ISO 9001. The ISO 9001 certification is recognised worldwide as a high standard for quality; it shows your customers that you take quality seriously, that you are proactive, and that you put your customers’ satisfaction first. Many companies seek ISO 9001 certification purely for marketing purposes. 3) Customer Requirements. It is becoming increasingly common for customers to prefer purchasing from ISO 9001 certified companies. If your customers are large companies or government agencies, they may simply require that your company is ISO 9001 certified in order to do business with your company. This is an increasing trend as the ever increasing number of ISO 9001 certified companies tends to require their subcontractors and vendors to be ISO 9001 certified as well. Many companies are forced to implement the ISO 9001 QMS and achieve certification – or lose their customers.

References: 1. http://www.isocertified.net/why-many-companies-have-iso-9001-certification.html 2. http://www.9001council.org/guide-implementation.php 3. http://www.9001council.org/guide-iso-9000.php 4. http://www.iso.org/iso/home/standards/management-standards/iso_9000.htm 5. http://www.iso.org/iso/bottom_line.pdf