ISO 9001 certification has numerous benefits regardless of the size of your organisation or the type of products or services you provide. Being certified with ISO 9001 tells your customers that you are committed to quality of your products and services. The certification also assists you in better managing the organisation while also fostering a culture of continuous improvement.
Here are the 8 steps to help you get started in obtaining ISO 9001 certification for your business:
- Know Your “Why” – You need to identify the reason of getting ISO 9001 certification. Getting ISO 9001 certification simply because your customer asks for it, is not good enough and will almost certainly result in failure.The top management of the business must be aware of ISO 9001 and the real benefits it may offer from a business perspective in order for an implementation of ISO 9001 to be effective.
- Top Management Support and Financial Commitment – Once the top management determines the true purposes of implementing ISO 9001, the proposed implementation of ISO 9001 should be formally documented which should include the suggested implementation strategy, a general timetable, and an estimated budget.The appointment of Management Representative by the top management is crucial to the implementation of ISO 9001. It is strongly advisable the appointed person is highly familiar with the company’s context, organisational processes, business plan etc.
- ISO 9001 Awareness Training – An awareness training session for the key personnel in the ISO 9001 Implementation Team should be provided by a registered ISO consultancy or training company with expertise in this area. This awareness training is to provide sound understanding of the principles and requirements of ISO 9001.
- Gap Analysis – A gap analysis is an activity to identify which clause of ISO 9001 is currently not being complied. The ISO 9001 Implementation Team, preferably with the help of professional ISO 9001 consultant shall review and compare all existing processes, practices and documentation in the company using the ISO 9001 requirements as the criteria. The ISO 9001 consultant will propose and develop action plan to comply with the best practices addressed in ISO 9001 standard.
- ISO 9001 Documentation Development – According to ISO 9001, controlled documentation of the Scope of the Quality Management System, Quality Policy, Quality Objectives, and the procedure to control externally provided products and services are required.While the above four documents are specifically required by ISO 9001, there will be other policies and procedures deemed to be necessary for the implementation of Quality Management System. It is always a good idea to involve the process owners who will be responsible for maintaining the documentation and records during this stage.
- ISO 9001 Implementation – After the Quality Management System has been established, the implementation should begin. However, it should be noted that you don’t need a perfect system before implementing it. As you finish developing certain sections of the system, conduct briefing to the process owner and implementing it immediately, while at the same time, continue to develop the others. You will shorten the overall project time by doing it this way.
- Internal Audit & Management Review – The overall adequacy and effectiveness of the ISO 9001 implementation should be checked by the appointed ISO 9001 consultant or company’s internal auditors. Internal auditors should perform elemental audit of selected functions and areas using audit programme and audit checklists.A Management Review is a meeting attended by the Top Management and all the personnel in the ISO 9001 Implementation Team to discuss and review the ISO 9001 system’s performance, adequacy and effectiveness.
- Certification Body Audit – You need to appoint a nationally accredited certification body to perform the certification audit. It will always be a good idea to select a certification body that has knowledge in your sector, as they will be able to share their experiences working with businesses like yours.Initial certification is completed in two stages of audit. A document and readiness evaluation will be the first stage of audit. The second stage of audit will focus more on the ISO 9001 implementation and system effectiveness. Upon completion of second stage of audit, a accredited certification will be awarded to your company.
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