ISO 9000 Assessments

Establishing standards is critical to the success of every business. That is why numerous companies go for ISO 9000 certification, which is a series of globally identified standards and rules that define an effective quality system. ISO standards themselves do not perform assessments or audits to ensure that they are applied by companies in conformity with the requirements of the standards.

Many testing laboratories and certification bodies conduct independent assessment services to provide evidence that services, goods, or systems match to ISO standards. The assessment of a quality system against the ISO 9000 standard is variously referred to as certification and registration. The certification corroborates that the system is in conformity with all the standard requirements. Agencies that issue ISO 9000 certificates are called certification bodies or registration bodies or registrars.

The registrars evaluate and validate an organization's management (including quality, environmental, safety) system for conforming to the ISO standards. This verification, confirmation and the concluding validation are commonly known as ISO assessment auditing process. Generally, there are two types of assessment auditing - auditing by an external certification body and auditing by internal employees trained for this process. In the ISO 9000 context, the term accreditation refers to the work of national accreditation bodies. ANAB is a well-known accreditation body in the US, famous for its ethics and integrity.

All ISO 9000 series require measurements and assessments for customer satisfaction and management capabilities. Many private and government organizations carry out reasonably priced conformity assessment services. Most of these organizations have professionals who are experienced in working with very small organizations to multi nationals.

ISO 9000 provides detailed information on ISO 9000, ISO 9000 Standards, ISO 9000 Software, ISO 9000 Consulting and more. ISO 9000 is affiliated with Home Inspections.

What is ISO 9000

ISO 9000 is a set of international standards that ensure product and service quality. In 1987, International Organization for Standardization (ISO) created the ISO 9000 standards providing guidelines to implement and operate quality management systems.

The ISO revised the standards in 1994, and again reorganized the standards and published an updated version in December 2000. The revised version includes three quality standards, namely, ISO 9000:2000, ISO 9001:2000, and ISO 9004:2000. The first one presents requirements, while the last two present guidelines.

ISO 9000 standards help businesses create in-house quality systems and monitor their existing quality systems. To develop quality systems, businesses should first identify areas in which quality control is required. Next step is to recognize what changes are to be made. After that, they should implement the standards by updating and managing their new quality processes.

ISO 9000 certification provides several benefits that can influence almost all activities of a company. The advantages range from increased stature to bottom-line operational saving. Of the numerous benefits include increased marketability, reduced operational expenses, better management control, improved internal communication, reduction of product-liability risks, and improved customer service.

For quality management, ISO 9000 standards require a total of twenty elements (sections.) They include management responsibility, quality management system, order entry, design control, document and data control, purchasing, control of customer supplied products, product identification and tractability, and process control.

ISO 9000 standards are generic as they can apply to any business, service or product, regardless of the industry. Businesses that employ these standards include manufacturing, processing, servicing, printing, forestry, electronics, steel, computing, legal services, financial services, accounting, trucking, and banking.

ISO 9000 is of great importance owing to its worldwide orientation. It has become the logical selection of all organizations that do business internationally, and for customers who want an international standard of quality. At present, national standards bodies from more than 120 nations support ISO 9000 quality standards.

ISO 9000 provides detailed information on ISO 9000, ISO 9000 Standards, ISO 9000 Software, ISO 9000 Consulting and more. ISO 9000 is affiliated with Home Inspections.

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.