Understanding ISO 9001

Today’s marketplace is very competitive for all companies. Whether you are in the Manufacturing world or in the Service industry you always have the need to find ways to stand out amongst your competitors. One of the best ways to stand out is to have a Quality Management System that is recognized worldwide – ISO 9001. Having ISO 9001 certification demonstrates your company’s commitment to Quality and gives your customers the confidence that you can meet their requirements. Companies implement and get certified to ISO 9001 for 3 reasons:

1. They have a customer requiring certification in order to conduct business
2. They want to use it as a marketing tool to earn more business in their current industry or a new industry
3. They want a system that will help them improve quality and produce more and waste less

What is ISO 9001?

ISO 9001 is a Quality Management System standard that was first introduced in 1987. It was often described as “Say what you do, do what you say, and prove it.” Companies would need to document their processes, make sure their employees followed this documentation, and keep records to prove the system was followed, giving them a consistent process. The initial problem with this was that a company could have a consistent process but produce bad products or services and end up with dissatisfied customers.

ISO 9001 has been reviewed regularly and improved over the years. The current version is ISO 9001:2015. The main premise is still “Say what you do, do what you say and prove it,” however, requirements for Leadership (management involvement) continuous improvement, interaction of processes (the communication between each step within your process), and proving customer satisfaction have been added to make this a win – win standard for you and your customers.

Certification

Once your system is in place, a full system internal audit must take place prior to having a 3rd party certified body called a Registrar audit your system. The auditing process has changed over the years as well. It started out as a one stage audit, but they saw the need to ensure better customer readiness. Today the audit is conducted in two stages. Stage I will mainly consist of a documentation readiness review. Stage II, using the process approach, the auditor will confirm:

• Is the documented system consistent with the standard? (Do you say what you do?)
• Are activities consistent with the documented system? (Do you do what you say you do?)
• Do the documented systems and activities help the auditee meet its goal and objectives? (especially quality objectives)
• Most importantly, does the auditee consistently provide products or services that meet their customer or regulatory requirements?

Conclusion

If you are looking to improve your operation, meet your customers’ requirements, add more customers in a new industry, or want to solve quality issues more efficiently, then ISO 9001 is a great place to start. At Perry Johnson Consulting, Inc., we have helped thousands of companies reach their ISO 9001 goals and objectives over the past 30 years. Contact us at [email protected] to see how we can help.

Author: Ralph Black – Business Development Manager

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