ISO 9001-2015 (Quality Management Systems)
ISO 9001 Certification – build a brand value for your business with the world’s most recognized quality management system
ISO 9001 is a globally recognized standard for quality management systems that helps organizations establish and maintain processes to ensure consistent, high-quality products and services.
- ISO 9001 certification ensures effective processes that would deliver quality product and services consistently in order to consistently meet the expectations of customers and other stakeholders.
- ISO 9001:2015 works on a simple phenomenon of (PDCA) Plan, Do, Check and Act, where certificate bodies plans for stakeholder of one’s company that how are they getting affected, all the checks are performed, checks of their physical building/factory, leakages, fire safety, proper working machines etc. and finally acting on it.
- ZSpace a trusted worthy provider of various ISO certification services help you increase efficiency, productivity, profit, competitions, with better quality products and services plus more reliable ISO 9001:2015 Quality management system. ZSapce has issued over 1000 ISO 9001 certification to clients that have achieved management excellence.
Importance of ISO 9001 Certification
ISO 9001 Certification is a universal standard for Quality Management System and one of the most used ISO standards. Over 1.1 million certificates have been issued in 178 countries.
85% of the certified organizations report benefits, such as higher demand for products and services, increased market share and improved business operation. Organizations with ISO 9001 Certification are more competent and pay 7% more on average.
ISO 9001 certification is the only standard in the ISO 9000 family of standards that requires certification. An entire organization seeks Certification, but the scope of the QMS can be accommodated to improve performance at a particular facility or department.
ISO 9001 Certification Principles:
- Customer focus – It evaluates the organization’s objectives and initiatives to meet customers’ needs and requirements. The principle focuses on product performance and customer service.
- Leadership – This principle aims to establish a quality-minded culture. The top-level management plays a crucial role in establishing and maintaining work environments that engage people and achieve quality objectives.
- Engagement of People – It is one of the essential principles of ISO 9001 certification and focuses on making employees more competent, dependable, empowered, and better. It helps in the personal and professional development of the employees by establishing effective communication within the organization.
- Process Approach – It focuses on linking all the business processes in a single system and helps in achieving more predictable and consistent outcomes. It helps an organization to focus on operations that need improvement.
- System Approach to Management – The process approach is a part of the system approach. It focuses on developing a cohesive system and improving individual performance by understanding, analyzing and managing interrelated business processes.
- Continual Improvement – Improving business operations is an on-going process. It requires an organization to identify potential risks and opportunities and formulates strategies to eliminate risks and reap opportunities.
- Evidence-based Decision Making – It follows an evidence-based approach to the decision-making process. It evaluates all the data and implements appropriate tools and methods. The importance is given to understand the cause-and- effect relationships and potential unintended consequences.
- Relationship Management – Establishing good relations with relevant partners, business associates, vendors, stakeholders, and investors is significant for an organization to ensure the continuity of the supply chain. Sustained success is more likely to be achieved when the organization manages relationships with all of its interested parties to optimize their impact on its performance.
Checklist for ISO 9001 Certification
ISO 9001 certification is an internationally accredited standard for Quality Management System. It requires an organization to establish effective quality management, and here is a checklist of 12 key steps that will guide you to achieve ISO 9001:
Step: 1- Leadership
Step: 2- Perform a Gap Analysis
Step: 3- Defining the scope
Step: 4- Implementation of Quality Management and Creating Quality Management System Manual
Step: 5- Establishing effective communication within the organization
Step: 6- Creation of an audit plan
Step: 7- Determining and assigning roles and responsibilities
Step: 8- Evaluating the Quality Management System and taking the corrective-actions
Step: 9- Conduction of an internal audit
Step: 10- Apply for stage-I audit
Step: 11- External audit
Step: 12- Successfully completing the Certification process
Cost of ISO 9001 Certification
The cost of ISO 9001 Certification varies from one organization to another. ISO 9001 standards apply to any industry, large and small, irrespective of nature and location. The cost of ISO 9001 certification depends on the certification body you choose. It also depends on many factors, such as:
- Size of your organization
- Number of employees in the organization
- The number of branches your organization has and many more.
PDCA Cycle
- Plan – to think that what do we need to achieve in our organization
- Do – to execute a planned action which will help us achieve the required objective
- Check – monitor against the standards) (policies, objectives, requirements)
- Action – finally implementing what has been rechecked.
ISO 9001 Benefits
Boosting the image of your organization – ISO 9001 certification by a credible certification body enhances your reputation in the eyes of customers, clients, and other stakeholders regarding your capabilities to deliver quality products and services.
Meet customer’s expectations – ISO 9001 aims at meeting the requirements as well as expectations of customers in terms of quality. This helps in enhancing your customer base as well as retaining your old customers.
Integration of processes – the High-Level Structure of ISO 9001 enables the integration of various management systems within the organization. This helps in recognizing the area of improvement as well as resource conservation within your organization.
Evidence-based decision making – The key to an effective QMS lies in evidence-based decision-making that can take into consideration the identified risks and ensure appropriate action for an efficient QMS.
Continual improvement – the culture of continual improvement in your organization enables your staff in improving the processes that they are directly responsible for. This helps in saving a good amount of time, costs, and other resources.
Involvement of the workforce – Who the framework of ISO 9001 ensures the engagement of the entire workforce for the betterment of the processes that keeps them motivated, which ultimately benefits of Being ISO 9001 Certified for your business.
ISO 9001 Requirements
The structure of ISO 9001 consists of 10 sections, out of which the first three are introductory in nature, whereas the last seven specifies the requirements of QMS, against which ISO 9001 certification performed.
Clause 4: Context of the organization – This section deals with understanding the uniqueness of your organization and customizing ISO 9001 in order to implement a QMS that is most suitable for you.
Clause 5: Leadership – It underlines the importance of top management in implementation of QMS by proper risk assessment, planning actions, and assigning roles and responsibilities to the relevant staff.
Clause 6: Planning – through analysis of the risks and opportunities, the top management is expected to design a plan that enlists the quality objectives for your organization.
Clause 7: Support – It points out all the resources, such as human resources, infrastructure, and others that are required for an effective QMS. This section also deals with the requirements around competence, awareness, communication, and controlling documented information.
Clause 8: Operation – this section deals with the execution part of the planning for QMS. It includes product requirements review, keeping a check on external providers, reviewing the product before release, and so on.
Clause 9: Performance evaluation – This section deals with the ways by which you can ensure an effective functioning of your QMS. It involves regular management reviews, monitoring and measurement techniques, etc.
Clause 10: Improvement – this section ensures that your QMS is upgraded and able to meet the current market requirements. It involves regular reviews to identify gaps and performing corrective actions to close those gaps for continual improvement
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Is ISO 9001 Certification mandatory or a legal requirement?
Since ISO 9001 certification is proof of your commitment to the quality of your products or services, it becomes a priority for your clients to do business with you. Also, you may find those suppliers trustworthy who are certified with ISO 9001. Thus, ISO 9001 certification is not a mandatory requirement, but it sure is a preferable one. In addition to that, ISO 9001 is also not a legal requirement. In fact, there are many standards, based on ISO 9001, for the implementation of Quality Management systems.
Organizations of any size or sector of operation can apply for ISO 9001 certification. The cost of obtaining this certificate varies from organization to organization, based upon the strength of their workforce, the complexity of their processes, and many other factors. Implementing a QMS on the basis of ISO 9001 may seem like a difficult task, but with proper guidance, it becomes easier, in addition, that, ISO 9001 certification might seem challenging to many, but with an experienced certification body, like Zspace Certifications, the process of certification can be made hassle-free.
ISO 9001 Frequently Asked Questions about Quality Management System (QMS)
Answer: Just because you received an ISO 9001 certification, your task is not complete. For proper functioning of the management system, you need to maintain the ISO 9001 certification. For that, your company has to continually undergo an annual surveillance audit for the period of three years. After completion of the validity period, you need to get recertified.
Answer: Basically, an ISO Certificate is valid for three years. And during this time period of three years, a surveillance audit is conducted on an annual basis to ensure that ISO quality standards are being maintained by the organization.
Answer: The cost of ISO 9001 certification varies from one organization to another. Basically, when you approach an internationally accredited certifying body for ISO Certification and they approve your management systems and all your processes, they will then quote an amount for the certificate. Moreover, the cost for achieving ISO certification depends mostly on your organization, such as the no. of employees in your organization, No. of branches your organization has, and many more.
Answer: Achieving ISO 9001 Certification is not a big deal in today’s upgraded systems. The basic steps to become ISO 9001 Certified are as firstly, you need to prepare all the relevant information about your company in a systematized way (It is always best and safe to hire a legal consultant). secondly, you need to document all the relevant information about your business. thirdly, you have to implement all the documented information in your organization. Fourthly, get ready for the internal audits which are performed first during the certification process and then periodically after. Lastly, if the certifying body approves your management system then you will be awarded the required ISO standard.