Do you believe in quality over quantity? As a business owner, you may always wish to ensure that all your services and products are of excellent quality. Whether the customer is your best friend, the President of the United States, or a regular Joe from Ohio, all of them must be given quality treatment.
So, if you’re wondering how to uplift the quality standards of your business, get in touch with the folks that define the universal quality for goods, services, and business operations around the globe, The International Organization for Standardization (ISO).
In this piece, we’ll discuss ISO and ISO certifications and guidelines for your business. Here’s what you need to know:
The International Organization of Standardization (ISO)
This is a non-governmental, independent organization that allows experts to come together from all around the world to collaborate and develop international standards. They define the best and safest way to do something. It can be as small as running a department or as big as running a nuclear plant. They work on maintaining quality and consistency while overseeing ways of building a sustainable future.
ISO Certification: A Seal of Approval
An ISO Certification is a seal of approval that your organization meets the requirements set by ISO. You can volunteer for this certification at any time. Also, ISO doesn’t provide conformity assessments or certification.
If you need a certification, hire third-party consultants who’ll work with you to determine if your organization meets all the requirements under the ISO standards and demonstrate your commitment to quality business practices and systems.
Moreover, when you advertise on your company website or annual report about the ISO certification, you shouldn’t say “ISO certification” or “ISO certified”. You should say “ISO 9001:2015 certified” or “ISO 9001:2015 certification”.
ISO Standards: A Detailed Guide
ISO standards cover every aspect of the business operations and daily life of its employees. These standards incorporate almost all industries like information technology, environment, food, healthcare, etc. Each of these standards helps define different guidelines and requirements that’ll ensure quality, safety, and consistency to put the customer first in every manner.
One of the most recognized standards all over the world includes ISO 9001. This standard sets the guidelines for QMS (Quality Management System), which can help you improve your business operations and customer satisfaction.
How Much Does It Cost?
The costs for registering and developing a formal management system will depend on the complexity and size of your company and your internal business operations.
Firstly, you’ll need to account for the development costs, which are the time spent documenting and implement the quality management systems. Next, there are training costs for your employees and preparing the necessary documents to conduct effective internal audits. And lastly, there’s the registration cost. This includes registering the management system and conducting external audits. The cost will depend on the number of locations you wish to cover, the number of worker shifts, and the scope of the work.
You can reduce these costs by hiring ISO consultants as it’ll reduce your risk of missing critical requirements under the standard or starting down the wrong path entirely. The registration and evaluation process can take from 3 to 6 months, with the average time as 6 months for more organizations.
Also, depending upon the condition of your existing management system, the scope of registration, and the complexity and size of your company or organization, your costs can vary between $10,000 and $20,000 to implement a formal management system. Also, the costs of the registration audits can be anywhere from $3,000 or $10,000 annually.
How Do You Get Certified?
Before you apply for the certification, you’ll need to finetune your production processes and implement the correct procedures to ensure you’re on the right track for maintaining quality ISO standards.
Here are some essential steps in becoming an ISO-certified business:
Work On Your Management System
You’ll need to work on your core business processes and improve them according to ISO standards. You can begin documenting the process by involving your employees, so they can also adjust and take part in the necessary changes. You can review, approve, and distribute those documents to people who need access to this information.
Implement Your Quality Management System
Now that you’ve identified the flaws in your business operations and corrected them with the documentation process, you can ensure they’re being performed as intended. You’ll also need to ensure that your employees receive the necessary training for the tasks they need to be performing.
Work on creating an effective reporting system to cover statistical techniques, monitoring of objectives, management review meetings, preventive actions, corrective actions, testing, and inspections. You can also monitor the effectiveness of your process by evaluating measurable data where possible. After reviewing, you can take actions where improvement is needed.
Verify The Effectiveness of Your System
In this step, you’ll need to audit and review your business processes for compliance and effectiveness. You can observe, interview people, and look at records and reports. After the reviewing stage, you’ll need to identify the weaknesses and strengths of your management system and take corrective action as required.
Register Your Management System
This is the last step. Here, you’ll contact the appropriate auditing body for external registration, then submit all your management system documentation for review to ensure it complies with ISO certification and guideline standards. Next, you’ll prepare for the external audit and wait for confirmation about your management system’s effective implementation.
Hire BCS For ISO 9001 Quality Management System Certification Consultation
If you’re looking for an ISO certification consultancy to help you prepare for the external audit and optimize your business processes according to the ISO certifications and guidelines, BCS can help you.
Get in touch with us today to get a quote for our services.