| ISO 9001:2000 Background Information
Customer satisfaction, profitability and market leadership are driven in large
part by delivering quality products and services to customers. There is a worldwide trend
towards more stringent customer expectations with regard to quality. Accompanying this trend
has been a growing realisation that continual improvements in quality are often necessary to
achieve and sustain good economic performance.
ISO - The International Organisation for Standardization (ISO) is the specialised
international agency for standardisation, at present comprising the national standards bodies
of 91 countries. The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) is the member body
representing the United States. ISO is made up of approximately 180 Technical Committees.
Each Technical Committee is responsible for one of many areas of specialisation. The object
of ISO is to promote the development of standardisation and related world activities with a
view to facilitating international exchange of goods and services and to developing
cooperation in the sphere of intellectual, scientific, technological and economic activity.
The results of ISO technical work are published as international standards.
In 1987, ISO published the original set of quality assurance standards commonly
known as ISO 9000. The ISO Quality Management and Quality Assurance System Standards provide
a set of requirements for quality assurance systems. A quality assurance system includes a
company's organisation, resources, policies and procedures for meeting customer requirements
Compliance with ISO 9000 standards indicates that a producer has a basic quality assurance
system in place.
Why Register for ISO 9001:2000?
One reason to implement and certify to ISO 9001:2000 is quite simply that some
customers may require it. Customers recognise the value of ISO 9001:2000 certified suppliers.
Additionally, some industries require companies to evaluate and audit their suppliers. The
requirement to audit these suppliers is often waived for ISO 9001:2000 certified suppliers,
thus saving the company money.
As the purpose of the standard implies, companies should want to implement the ISO
9001:2000 standard to improve their effectiveness and increase customer satisfaction. Improved
system effectiveness and customer satisfaction typically result in greater profitability
through gains in efficiency and increased sales from happy customers.
Some of these benefits can be obtained by implementing and complying with the ISO
9001:2000 standard without going through the registration process. There are some benefits to
be expected from registration however. Often times, when companies implement a new system, it
becomes their current item of interest and soon fades with the concerns and pressures of
business. It is very difficult at times to maintain interest and support for a system over a
long term.
The certification or registration process includes regular visits by the registrar
to ensure the system is maintained. Also, the outside perspective of the auditors can be of
benefit as well. A system developed and implemented internally may fall short in some areas
through no fault of the personnel involved. The objective perspective of an auditor may
strengthen the system in weak areas and provide the organisation with additional benefit.
Implementing your ISO 9001:2000 system represents a major effort. Some things
will go rapidly, some will be frustratingly slow. It is essential that you get Top Management
and all key personnel on board and not let the effort stall. It is usually harder to get the
effort restarted than it was to get started in the first place.
Although it won't seem like it at first, your ISO 9001:2000 system should ultimately
provide significant benefit to your organisation. The systematised continuous improvement
should provide efficiency gains in all areas. Improving customer satisfaction should also
improve sales and ultimately the bottom line. If an area of your program appears to be too
bureaucratic and non-value-adding, it may be a target for continuous improvement efforts.
After you're certified and have had your program in place for a year, you'll wonder
how you managed without it.
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ISO Certifications, Registrations, and Accreditations
Increasingly, customers expect companies to have their quality systems certified
(audited) or registered to one of the standards of the series. This involves having an
accredited independent third party registrar conduct an on-site audit of the company's
operations against the requirements of the appropriate ISO standard.
The terms certified, audited or registered are often times used interchangeably.
For ISO purposes, certification is the same as registration. Once a company has passed an
audit, the company is certified by that auditor and entered into an ISO directory or
registered for a specific ISO standard.
Therefore, accredited registrars certify organisations through an audit process
for registration in an official directory of companies that have passed ISO standards.
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