Is ISO 9001 Registration For My Organization?

Firstly you should decide your own reasoning behind considering ISO 9001 2000 registration for your organization.

Is the number of registrations in your market sector increasing?

Are your competitors seeking registration?

Are your customers asking about registration?

Are registrations increasing in your industry?

Are your customers asking you to become registered?

Have your group HQ asked you to gain registration?

Do you want to reap the financial benefits of registration?

Have the number of customer or consumer complaints increased?

Do preventable errors keep occur again and again in your business?

It is not possible to state exactly what benefits will your organization will gain by having a formal quality system, primarily because each organization is different. However, I think it is fair to say that most organisations will benefit from having a formalized Quality Management system where:

Work proceeds in an orderly and predictable way.

The same old preventable errors stop occurring.

Customer and consumer complaints fall dramatically.

Your Management System improves.

Internal communication within your organization improves.

Returned product from customers reduces week on week.

The quality of your product and or service improves.

The level of customer and employee satisfaction improves.

Your organization produces quality data to improve your business.

By now you should have a reasonable idea of whether or not ISO 9001 2000 registration is right for your organization and whether or not you will gain financially from adopting the ISO 9001 2000 standard as a method of running your business effectively and efficiently.

If you are now seriously considering seeking registration to the ISO 9001 2000 standard you must begin to understand what the standard requires of an organization. There are many books and resources available which discuss implementing the ISO 9001 2000 Quality Management Standard into an organization, including the documentation and resources to be found on this web site.

You may like to begin your ISO 9001 2000 education by reading the various articles and resources to be found on this web site. I would thoroughly recommend reading the Questions and Answers (Q&A) section of this web site as it will answer many of the initial questions that you might have about the ISO 9001 2000 registration process.

To begin to understand the requirements of the ISO 9001 2000 standard we recommend that you read Preparing For ISO 9001 2000 Registration. Alternatively you could take a training course which will teach you about the ISO 9001 2000 Quality Management Standard and the registration process.

To determine the amount of input required by your organization to comply with the requirements of the ISO 9001 2000 standard will require that you assess your existing management system. You could to fetch in a consultant at this stage because a consultant will be able to identify exactly what your organization needs to do in order to achieve the requirements of the ISO 9001 2000 Quality Management Standard.

Many organizations opt to carry out a gap analysis audit by themselves. However, this is such an important part of the ISO 9001 2000 registration process it is worth seeking professional help from a consultant. Many organizations who opt to jump straight into the gap analysis audit process themselves can often waste time, money and resources by not fully understanding the intent of the ISO 9001 2000 standard. Whereas seeking professional advice from a consultant will set your organization on the right path with clear instructions on who, what, where, why, when and how things should be done.

If on the other hand your organization already has a very good understanding of the ISO 9001 2000 Quality Management Standard and you have:

A documented Quality policy.

Been setting and using documented Quality objectives.

Documented Top management reviews of your Quality Management System.

Documented top level Quality Management System Manual.

Documented effective and efficient process procedures and or work instructions.

Documented employee skills and training records which are regularly reviewed.

Documented ISO 9001 2000 compliant Quality Management System Audits.

Documented an effective and compliant Customer complaint process.

Documented an effective corrective & preventive action process.

If you are doing all the above then you may be well on your way toward gaining ISO 9001 2000 registration. However, if your Quality Management System is incomplete or immature it will require much more effort to become compliant. You can continue to adjust your system, carry out internal quality audits to check for compliance, train employees etc. Until you reach a position where you feel you have done as much as you are able to do yourself. Once you have reached this stage you may be concerned that you have missed something important. It seems rather silly to embark on a full registration audit at great cost to your organization when you can hire a consultant to carry out a gap analysis audit for a relatively small sum of money to ensure that your quality management system is compliant with the requirements of ISO 9001 2000. If you fail the certification body initial assessment audit the cost of a full re-audit by a registration body can be prohibitively expensive.

A pre-assessment or gap analysis audit is survey carried out by a professional who compares what processes your organization has in place compared to those required by the ISO 9001 2000 Quality Management Standard. The consultant will report any deficiencies in your organizations processes, it is then up to you to decide if you want to tackle these deficiencies by yourself or to engage the professional services of consultant.

Driso provide ISO 9001 2000 consultancy, auditing, software, and training Services. They also supply Easy ISO 9001 2000® software for initially setting up an ISO 9001 2000 compliant Quality Management System or improving upon an existing one. To contact Driso Consultancy Services visit the web site below and see what they can do for you and your business.http://www.driso.co.uk

ISO 9001 Registration - 8 Steps for Success

 

You’ve made the plans, built the quality system and conducted the audit. So how do you register your company as ISO 9001 conformant? And how can you be sure you’re getting the most value for your investment? Here’s how the process works.

Certifying Your Company and Quality System

After your company's ISO 9001 audit, you will want to register your company's quality system to show that you've met the requirements. And to do this effectively, you will need to follow eight essential steps.

1. Finding a Registrar

You’ll need to begin searching for an ISO registrar during the 2 to 3 months your company is still building its quality system. You can search the Registrar Accreditation Board (RAB) at http://www.rabnet.com to select the registrar right for you.

2. Selecting a Registrar

Select a registrar that has experience within the scope category of your specific industry, which you can also find on the RAB site. Keep in mind accreditation, scheduling issues, fees and comfort level when selecting the registrar right for you.

3. Creating an Application

A company and a registrar will agree on the application, contract. This defines the rights and obligations of both parties, and includes liability issues, confidentiality and access rights.

4. Conducting a Document Review

The registrar will require a copy of your quality manual and procedures to verify that all the requirements of the standard are addressed. Allow 2-4 weeks in advance for the registrar to fully review all of the necessary documents.

5. Determining Preassessment

Though optional, this 2-4 week initial review of the system identifies any significant omissions or weaknesses. It saves time and allows the registrar to assess any issues and resolve logistics before the actual assessment audit.

6. Issuing an Assessment

During the audit, or physical onsite inspection of procedures in action, the auditors will issue findings if they assess anything that doesn’t meet requirements, or nonconformities. The length of this step will depend on the scope of the audit and the size your organization.

7. Completing ISO Registration

After all of the findings are put into the audit report and nonconformities are addressed, your company has the option to register as ISO 9001 conformant. You will receive a certificate and can also be listed in a register, which the company can use to publicize its registration and use in advertising.

8. Checking with Surveillances

To ensure that the system is maintained and that changes don’t result in deficiencies in the system, registrars perform regular surveillances of the system. Over the three-year period of your certificate, auditors will perform one full and two partial checks of your system.

Considerations in Planning

The Document Review and Preassessment typically require 2-4 weeks each. However, the number of registrars and the number of days for each stage of the registration audit depends on the size and complexity of your organization. So set target dates accordingly to allow both you and the registrar time to fully prepare.

Strong Return on Your Internal Audit Investment

Always keep in mind, registration should provide you with valuable feedback to improve your system. So make sure to seek the appropriate registrar, and take full advantage of the entire audit process. After all, it’s your company, it’s your registration, and so make sure you get a strong return on YOUR investment.

Chris Anderson has over 18 years of sales, marketing and business management experience working with business process design, software and systems engineering. He is also co-author of policies and procedures manual products, producing the layout, process design and implementation to increase performance. He is currently the Managing Director of Bizmanualz, Inc. Visit: Bizmanualz, Inc.

Steps to Build ISO 9001 Compliant Program

Implementing an ISO 9001 system represents a major effort. However, all of that effort can represent a significant shift for a business - from quantity to quality. And this could make sure your business gets the desired results.

Shift Policy and Procedures Focus to Performance

Developing, implementing and maintaining your ISO 9001 program can be crucial to the core issues of a business. The focus is designed to help:

• Satisfy customer requirements for compliance

• Increase profits with more contracts

• Save money through efficiency

But to do this you need to put a framework in place that spotlights performance and performance improvement.

Get Management System Support

To effectively build a program and meet the requirements, your organization should carry out a strong process:

• Management Decision and Commitment

• Adequate Training and Evaluation

• Compliance with Appropriate Standards

• Audit and Registration

Once you’ve identified your company’s need for compliance, it is essential for top management to get on board. Management can ensure that quality is documented, demonstrable, effective and maintained.

Quality Systems and Procedures

The appropriate personnel should then review the standards for their industry and work to meet those requirements with organized documentation. Personnel can then develop, implement and maintain a set of quality systems and procedures to satisfy the ISO 9001 requirements.

Operations Training and Well-defined Processes

To build a program and meet the requirements, your organization should begin with effective training for how to create well-defined processes. You will first want to learn how to identify the objectives necessary to deliver top results. And then you will be ready to put those processes to work.

Internal Auditor Training

After you’ve implemented the ISO program, you should monitor and measure the processes against your own objectives. You can build an effective management system that objectively shows what you’re doing right and wrong. To learn how, you can take advantage of an Internal Auditor skills class and learn how to bridge the gap and move toward continual performance improvement.

Improve Business Process Performance

With ISO 9001 compliance you can improve the overall process performance of your business. And this can save money while satisfying your customers and increasing profit.

Chris Anderson is currently the managing director of Bizmanualz, Inc. and co-author of policies and procedures manuals, producing the layout, process design and implementation to increase performance. To learn how to increase your business performance, visit: Bizmanualz, Inc.

How to Meet Quality Standards with ISO 9001

In today’s hectic business environment, it is vital that we are all on the same page, right? But how do we know if we meet those standards? Business owners and executives can avoid the uncertainty, and that’s where ISO 9001 certification comes in.

Standardizing Quality Systems

The ISO, or International Organization for Standardization, was established in 1947 to develop international standards for everything from electronics to management systems. Having over 13,000 standards currently in place, ISO has created the auditing and certification process known as ISO 9001. This began the drive toward quality standards.

Improving Customer Satisfaction

Companies choose to implement ISO 9001 and get certified because many customers and industries require it. By keeping customers happy, they can increase sales and profitability for their business. And if an area of the company’s program appears to be too bureaucratic and non-value-adding, then it might also be an area for continuous improvement efforts.

Enhancing Company Policy and Performance

Both customers and industries alike use ISO certification as a way to evaluate and audit their suppliers and products. Through an independent verification process, customers can gain assurance of their suppliers’ products. And as a supplier becomes certified, the testing requirement is waved, which saves the company both time and money.

Developing a Best Practices Process

Employed as a “Best Practices” model, ISO 9001 utilizes the philosophy of the “Plan-Do-Check-Act” continuous improvement cycle to achieve requirements. This process approach centers around eight quality management principles used by management as a guide toward improving performance and identifying the main elements needed in a good quality system:

1. Customer Focus

2. Leadership

3. Involvement of People

4. Process Approach

5. Systems Approach to Management

6. Continuous improvement

7. Factual Approach to Decision-Making

8. Mutually Beneficial Supplier Relationship

Building Stable Processes

ISO 9001 policies, procedures and forms can provide employers, managers and employees with a systematic and consistent approach to implementing policies, plans, procedures and work routines. Instead of building their own policies and procedures from scratch, some companies prefer to hire professional writers that have already prepared a set of written policies and procedures to help on the way to certification.

Auditing a Company System

In the certification process, an independent registrar will perform an on-site audit of a company’s operations to verify that it complies with the ISO standard. If the business complies, then that company will be registered as ISO 9001 compliant.

Effective Policies and Procedures

On the way to certification, a business can meet its ISO needs by:

• Using well-defined processes and procedures to build stable processes

• Training in the audit and certification process

• Continuously improving with ISO 9001 standards

Quality Management System

With complete procedures manuals for ISO 9001 Quality Management System, required HR procedures, and an ISO training class, a template like an ISO 9001 Quality Manager Procedures Manual Series can help a business on its way to ISO 9001 certification. Sometimes the effort can be very great, but companies typically notice a remarkable difference in efficiency and effectiveness after the first year.

Chris Anderson is currently the managing director of Bizmanualz, Inc. and co-author of policies and procedures manuals, producing the layout, process design and implementation to increase performance. To learn how to increase your business performance, visit: Bizmanualz, Inc.

Quality Standards with ISO 9001

Standardizing Quality Systems

The ISO, or International Organization for Standardization, was established in 1947 to develop international standards for everything from electronics to management systems. Having over 13,000 standards currently in place, ISO has created the auditing and certification process known as ISO 9001. This began the drive toward quality standards.

Improving Customer Satisfaction

Companies choose to implement ISO 9001 and get certified because many customers and industries require it. By keeping customers happy, they can increase sales and profitability for their business. And if an area of the company’s program appears to be too bureaucratic and non-value-adding, then it might also be an area for continuous improvement efforts.

Enhancing Company Performance

Both customers and industries alike use ISO certification as a way to evaluate and audit their suppliers and products. Through an independent verification process, customers can gain assurance of their suppliers’ products. And as a supplier becomes certified, the testing requirement is waved, which saves the company both time and money.

Developing Best Practices

Employed as a “Best Practices” model, ISO 9001 utilizes the philosophy of the “Plan-Do-Check-Act” continuous improvement cycle to achieve requirements. This process approach centers around eight quality management principles used by management as a guide toward improving performance and identifying the main elements needed in a good quality system:

1. Customer Focus

2. Leadership

3. Involvement of People

4. Process Approach

5. Systems Approach to Management

6. Continuous improvement

7. Factual Approach to Decision-Making

8. Mutually Beneficial Supplier Relationship

Building Stable Processes

ISO 9001 policies, procedures and forms can provide employers, managers and employees with a systematic and consistent approach to implementing policies, plans, procedures and work routines. Instead of building their own policies and procedures from scratch, some companies prefer to hire professional writers that have already prepared a set of written policies and procedures to help on the way to certification.

Auditing a Company System

In the certification process, an independent registrar will perform an on-site audit of a company’s operations to verify that it complies with the ISO standard. If the business complies, then that company will be registered as ISO 9001 compliant.

Meeting Company and Customer Needs

On the way to certification, a business can meet its ISO needs by:

• Using well-defined processes and procedures to build stable processes

• Training in the audit and certification process

• Continuously improving with ISO 9001 standards

Noticing the Difference

With complete procedures manuals for ISO 9001 Quality Management System, required HR procedures, and an ISO training class, a template like an ISO 9001 Quality Manager Procedures Manual Series can help a business on its way to ISO 9001 certification. Sometimes the effort can be very great, but companies typically notice a remarkable difference in efficiency and effectiveness after the first year.

Chris Anderson has over 18 years of management experience working with business process design, software and systems engineering, consulting with companies large and small. He is also co-author of policies and procedures manual products, producing the layout, process design and implementation of the information to increase performance. He is currently the Managing Director of Bizmanualz, Inc.

Visit: http://www.bizmanualz.com

How International Organization for Standardization Helps

The International Organization for Standardization, or ISO, is a non-governmental organization that develops technical standards, contributing to making the development, manufacturing, and supply of both supplies and services, cleaner and safer. Providing government with standards regarding health and safety issues, they also promote fair trade between counties. We tend to take many things for granted; we always expect simple objects, like screws, to do the job that we intend them for. ISO ensures just that, and sets standards that make things better for all of our society, as a whole.

With a Central Secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland, ISO is a network of standard institutes in 146 different countries. Dating back to 1947, ISO was created by 25 delegates who determined that a new international organization was needed "to facilitate the international coordination and unification of industrial standards". Due to the fact that “International Organization for Standardization” would have different initials in different languages, it was decided to use a word derived from the Greek word “isos”. For this reason, no matter what country you are in, the short form of the organization is always ISO, which means “equal”.

To date, ISO has created nearly 14,000 international standards, covering things like agriculture, mechanical engineering, construction, medical devices and information technology developments. While the majority of ISO standards are geared towards certain products, ISO 900 and 14000 deal with quality and environmental management, and are considered "generic management system standards”. By ’generic,’ this means that they are a list of standards which all products and workplaces must meet, regardless of whether they produce a product or service, and regardless of where they are located. By maintaining customer regulations, as well as doing what they can minimize harmful effects on the environment, ISO standards help ensure that our world is a much better place.

James Hunt has spent 15 years as a professional writer and researcher covering stories that cover a whole spectrum of interest. Read more at http://www.best-baby-strollers.info