ISO 9001 Standards For Small Medium Enterprise

There are some companies out there as small as two people that are ISO 9000 certified. In terms of size, companies range from the very small, to under 100 employees, to between 200 ? 300 employees. In terms of revenue, companies can range from one hundred thousand to multi-million dollar companies. They provide a variety of products or services including testing and assembly, manufacturing metal stampings, electronic components, paper products, printing, or different kinds of machinery. Other companies include banks, food industries, and chemical plants. There are also service companies that do recruitment, consulting, and engineering. Any industry in the world can be ISO 9000 registered, and it doesn’t matter what size they are or what they do.

ISO certification can help small business by slimming down your business operation system and make it more effective. Basically, when you first build your ISO 9000 system, it looks like a paper giant to you. In actuality, once it’s done, you’ve completed your audit, and are now running your system, you are able to more effectively utilize the people you work with.

You could have four different processes that you actually could work into one. Now one person can handle completing a particular process instead of four different ones. You’ve been able to consolidate multiple actions/processes into one. This will save time, which is money in the long run. Corrective and preventive actions help you as well. If you catch a product defect prior to its being completed or shipped, you save yourself money and an impact on your company’s reputation. There are a lot of cost effective ways that employee input can also help being ISO registered.

This process will save your business money down the road, even if you may not see it in the front end. You’ve got to run the system. Then as it is running and you are using it, you start consolidating areas of your business that are inefficient or are contributing to loss of materials, labor, etc?. The money isn’t always cash coming back all the time. You will get some cash in some workplaces if you’re getting a lot of scrap and re-work, but YOU ARE going to see it come back in savings of time, and we all know TIME is MONEY.

Obviously where people are working more efficiently, they are making more product in less time, so you are saving money and making money at the same time. In the long run it will balance out, and you’ll help your company into the next level. Also, you can put the ISO on your website. You can use it for your marketing because suppliers recognize it, not only in the United States, but around the world. You’ll probably get more calls, because of your ISO registration.

Many companies look to see if potential suppliers are ISO registered prior to contacting them. Potential customers will know that through effective and efficient management of your system you are assuring them that they get a quality product. It’s going to open up more doors for potential customers because they are going to understand what you’re doing. Some companies will not even look at clients or other companies unless they are ISO registered. It’s similar to the idea that, in the job market, a lot of companies won’t look at a candidate unless they have a college degree. In this case your ISO certificate is your degree.

Another way that ISO registration can save small businesses money is by eliminating the need for vendor audits. In the past, companies would conduct these audits to verify the quality of potential suppliers? products, or they would purchase the product and hope that it was what they wanted. Now you can verify just by asking for a copy of their certificate and verifying with the registrar. You would not have to send someone in to do a vendor audit. This is an extremely strong benefit.

Committing to becoming ISO certified is not a small decision. It takes time, dedication, and it can be expensive. However, the benefits for small businesses far outweigh these costs. Becoming ISO certified can help you small business grow!

ISO 14001 Certification

ISO 14001 certification is primarily concerned with the approach of Environmental Management System. Keeping in mind the growing worldwide concerns regarding the living environment, we have come up with expertise in providing certification services.Certification to the internationally recognised EMS standard, ISO 14001 from an accredited and reputable provider is becoming a preferred choice for organisations looking to demonstrate their environmental credentials.

What is ISO 14001?

ISO 14001 is the internationally recognised standard for the environmental management of businesses. It prescribes controls for those activities that have an effect on the environment. These include the use of natural resources, handling and treatment of waste and energy consumption.

Implementing an Environmental Management System is a systematic way to discover and control the effects your company has on the environment. Cost savings can be made through improved efficiency and productivity. These are achieved by detecting ways to minimise waste and dispose of it more effectively and by learning how to use energy more efficiently. It verifies compliance with current legislation and makes insurance cover more accessible.

Advantages of ISO 14001 certification:

* Environmental legal liability.
* Improved corporate image; strategic investment; improved regulatory relations.
* Improving the quality of the environment.
* Assuring commitment to manage and improve environment
* Reducing incidents that may be detrimental to working in the long run and causing liability
* Conserve natural resources and energy and help in getting the required legal consent
* Sharing environmental solutions and improving industry and government relationship
* Evaluates system performance through management review and correct management system deficiencies.

The ISO 14001 certification provided by OSS, offers quality control system defines the organisation, responsibilities, objectives and procedures used to assure quality and reliability of products and services. The policies of the ISO 9001:2008 quality control program should be implemented and maintained at all levels of the business operation and be accessible to all employees.

The ISO 14000 standardization series establishes standards, guidelines, and policies governing correct environmental management by certified organizations. ISO 14001 is, thus far, the most recognized of the ISO 14000 series, as well as the sole ISO standard that can be certified. In an era of environmental consciousness, this certification is crucial for a business or corporate entity to remain competitive in not only a national market, but the international market.

Wide acceptance- ISO certification is recognised in more than 120 countries and is the logical choice for any organisation involved in international business or committed to quality.

The certification process is undertaken by a third party uninvolved in any way with the organization seeking certification. A sizable number of certification organizations, known as auditors, will provide materials, mentoring, and monitoring to ensure that organizations recognize and comply with the various management guidelines. Once the standards have been met, the auditing organization will certify the applicant organization as ISO 14001-compliant.

OSS is considered as a professional organisation which holds some of the highly qualified individuals in the pool, serving for a wide range of areas by providing customer preferred and efficient certification services. The company toils for rendering a complete suite of consulting services and training in the field of Quality Management and Environmental Management to the organisation across all the industries verticals for building a progressing and profitable organisation by creating competitive advantage in the market.

Iso 9001 And 14001 Certification

ISO stands for International standard organisationwhich is an non-governmental body. This body was developed in Switzerland in 1945, right after World War II. The reason behind the development of ISO is to create international standards for industrial and commercial products within a business. ISO is a network of the national standards institutes of 163 countries, one member per country, with a Central Secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland, that coordinates the system.

Standards ensure desirable characteristics of products and services such as quality, environmental friendliness, safety, reliability, efficiency and interchangeability – and at an economical cost. Receiving certification by the ISO means that a business has agreed to uphold certain standards and practices in its day-to-day operations. These standards are of particular importance when it comes to industries and commercial interests that may have a significant environmental impact through the discharge of waste of by-products. ISO standards are an internationally recognised set of benchmarks for any association that enable you to create as well as maintain a structured management system with a clearly defined set of processes.

ISO 9001 is known across the world as the standard for high quality business operations and management whereas ISO 14001 for environmental management. Both big and small companies prefer going by ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 standards because of its versatility and efficiency. Today, over 875,000 companies are ISO certified. The ISO 9001and 14001 standard is designed to be implemented in various business procedures necessary for the creation and quality control of a given product or service that a company offers. A solid monitoring and control system is incorporated, making sure that a company provides consistent, high-quality production outputs that always satisfy customer demands. ISO 9001and 14001 can be implemented in any process, regardless of the location of the company or department facility.

Having ISO 9001 Certification is an indication that a company or business firm is committed to providing customers with high quality products and services. It also shows that a company is willing to do what it takes to achieve better production efficiency. For environmental management system ISO 14001 helps you to identify the key impacts that you have on the environment, important legislation and then set about controlling as well as improving these impacts. These are the two traits all customers and organizations look for when choosing a company to do business with. An ISO 9001 certificate also shows that it has a solid and excellent Quality Management System that is capable of passing the rigors of independent and external auditing. By enhancing a company’s image in the customer’s eyes, an ISO 9001 certifiedbusiness firm has a competitive advantage over other businesses in the same industry

ISO 14001 Standards – Control Of Forms

ISO 14001:2004, element 4.4.5, instructs an organization to control documents required by the EMS and the standard. While some companies often try to justify not controlled forms, let’s find out if forms are the same as “documents” and if they also should be controlled.

Organizations use forms and tables within their environmental, quality, H&S and other management systems. Often, instead of preparing a traditional instruction or a procedure with all the sections, such as scope, purpose and process description, a simple form can provide this information. Frequently registrars issue companies non-conformities for their not controlled forms of their EMS.

Repeatedly I discuss this issue with my clients. Regularly I hear the same answer “Why do I need control a form?” Honestly, I do not understand this! Why should a form be treated differently from any other document? How would one know that we need a form if it is not referenced in our ISO 14001 management system? If forms are not managed by your documentation system, and you decide to modify them, how can you be confident that you make changes to the latest revision? Anyway, what is a form? A short review will help answering this question. If we have a list of directions telling us to:

1 – prepare 2-column table

2 – note your organization’s name in the first column

3 – put your business’s URL into the 2-nd column

There is no doubt; most of us would call this three-line direction a procedure or an instruction. So, if this is an instruction, it shall be controlled per ISO 14001 Standard.

Now, what if we were given a two-column table where the first column was titled “You enterprise name” and the second column “Internet address”. We were asked to complete the form. Easy to imagine, we would enter our company’s name and our URL in the table. It means that we interpreted this table as an “instruction”. If it walks like duck it is a duck! OK, most like a duck

This example demonstrate that our first three-line instruction in English (that obviously needs to be controlled), serves the same function, producing the same result, as our form. Therefore, the form as an instruction and “shall” be controlled as well.

I suspect that the confusion regarding forms used in ISO 14001 environmental management systems is based on the fact that forms serve two purposes. Blank forms are brief instructions written in tabular language. The same form, after being completed, becomes a record. Since records are not required to have a number, I presume this transposes on the source document – our blank table. Let’s remember this and treat our blank forms as instructions letting the documentation control process govern them. There are a couple of easy tests you may take when you are tempted to use a form that has not been identified:

- If you created a form for ISO 14001:2004 EMS and found it was changed, would you like to know who did it and why?

- If you revised one of your ISO 14001 forms, would you like your users use the latest revision?

- If you are in Brazil on a business trip, would you like other employees to know where to find your form in your EMS?

If you answered, “yes” at least once, your form is a definite candidate for being a part of your formal ISO 14001 documentation management system.

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ISO Certification – A Standard For a Quality Business

ISO certification is accepted as the worldwide stamp of approval for business wanting to demonstrate compliance to quality systems. It is an organization working across 161 countries around the world looking to established standards for quality of materials, products, process, etc. It provided unique identification and goodwill to the organization to conduct business with any other, to deal in a global market.

The importance of ISO certification is that it provides assurance of Quality management which gives assurance to the customers. ISO Standard assessment and certification is recognized worldwide for giving your business the competitive edge, client confidence and market place leverage.

ISO provides the necessary tools to improve and unite work force of a business to increased profit margins, work efficiency, improved accuracy and customer base right through business operations. So although the process seems daunting and time consuming, the benefits of taking the time and putting the initial hard work into certification is well worth it for the long term benefit achieved. The process also includes regular internal audits of a company, to identify any nonconformity in procedures or documentation. By this it is easy catch small errors in processes or procedures before they become costly problems.

There are many ISO Companies that provides ISO Certification, Quality management, ISO standards, ISO 9001, ISO 9000, ISO 14001, ISO 27001, ISO 17025, ohsas, ohsas 18001 etc. It helps to ensure and keep the organization focus in terms of standard and quality. This is made possible in the course of certification. The organization will be given standards to work with and other training or enlightenments. The organization is to continue to follow if it must remain in the good book of the ISO. It helps in building customers trust and confidence in the company and its products. All an all ISO certification is very important for the growth and trust of customer on the business.

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How to Get ISO 9001 Certificatied

The ISO 9001 accreditation is part of the International Organization for Standardization 9000 standards. They are awarded to businesses for quality. The ISO 9001 is recognized worldwide as an award for a company’s internal quality management or actions that the company takes to ensure the product or service they provide is of the highest quality. Customer satisfaction is a major factor in whether a company will be awarded an ISO 9001 accreditation.

The International Organization for Standardization in Geneva, Switzerland publishes thousands of international standards to help companies throughout the world more efficiently do business with one another. The 27 page ISO 9001 standard is focused on defining minimum business practices for the production and delivery of a company’s products and services through the implementation of a formal “quality management system”, or QMS. An ISO QMS is made up of certain processes, documentation and other formal practices that control internal company operations to ensure customer requirements are consistently met.

To pass an audit, an organization must follow these guidelines:

• Develop a Quality Management System (QMS) manual.

• Develop the procedures required by the ISO Standard.

• Determine the additional processes and procedures that are needed by the organization to perform work and satisfy the requirements in the ISO Standard.

• Operate in accordance with the organization’s documented QMS.

• Provide evidence that the organization is operating according to the QMS.

The achievement of an ISO 9001 certification is a milestone in demonstrating to your customers that you have implemented a reliable system of producing and delivering your products and services. The focus of this “system” is twofold: providing consistent products and services; and continual improvement in your processes leading to better results.

The ISO 9001 certification is granted by a third-party auditing firm called a Registrar who specializes in quality system auditing. There are a wide variety of Registrars located in every ISO participating country. Some firms have offices internationally; others have a more regional focus. The selection of your Registrar is one of the more important decisions you will make to ensure the best alignment with your type of business, your location(s) and overall cost of maintaining the certification.

The initial certification audit is conducted in two parts. The Stage 1 audit is a general review of your QMS documentation to ensure you have addressed all of the requirements of the standard. Depending upon the size of your business, this can be conducted in a one to two day visit to your facility or virtually via phone. Any discrepancies noted during the Stage 1 audit will be documented in a formal report and must be corrected before the Stage 2 audit.

The main part of the ISO audit is the Stage 2 audit which is always conducted onsite at your location(s) and will be focused on the implementation and effectiveness of your QMS. During this audit which can take 1 day (for very small companies) to several days, the auditor(s) will tour your company, speak to managers and employees, and review documentation and records (along with any Stage 1 discrepancies) to ensure that your system is fully implemented. If non-conformances are found, they will be documented in a formal report for correction. Following the Stage 2 audit, you are generally given thirty (30) days to submit corrective action plans for all audit non-conformances. Once corrective actions are received, your certification is complete and your certificate is issued.

In order to maintain the certification, you will participate in an annual surveillance audit from your Registrar where they confirm that you are maintaining your QMS.

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How To Obtain ISO 9001 Certificate

ISO 9000 is a group of internationally recognized standards regarding quality management systems, laid down by the International Standard Organization. Previously divided into different standards like ISO 9001, ISO 9002, ISO 9003, they are now revised and combined into one simplified standard which covers all aspects, known as ISO 9001:2000. Another review is in process, but according to experts not many changes are expected.

How important is ISO 9001 for your business? Or do you really need ISO 9001 certification? The answer to these questions depends on your nature of business and future plans. ISO certification can prove to be very helpful and is quite necessary if you are planning to go global. It provides your business with much needed credibility and improves your company’s overall impression. If you are operating in a highly competitive market, ISO certification can be a competitive advantage. However, acquiring ISO 9001 certification is very expensive and it all depends on your business nature, needs and more importantly the availability of funds.

Will it improve your product’s quality?
ISO 9001 certification has no direct affect on product’s quality; it mainly deals with quality management systems. Although implementing these standards may improve the final product quality and reduce cost, it should not be used to measure a product’s quality or business’s profitability.

Obtaining ISO 9001 certification:
After the management has decided that having an ISO 9001 Certificate can be fruitful for the business. Some senior person, who is well informed of ISO standards, should be made in charge of all this process. ISO certification requires businesses to write down all procedures, job descriptions, different department functions, etc in accordance with ISO standards. Next step is the implementation. Start with educating the employees; tell them about the importance and significance of ISO certification, once motivated, they should be directed on how they can help in acquiring certification? Perform internal audits frequently to check if everybody is following the procedures. Make corrective actions when some error is found. If needed, you can hire an advisory service as well.

Issuance of Certificate:
International standard organization (ISO) doesn’t provide any certification itself. These certifications are issued by registered bodies that are entitled to do so. After some business has taken all necessary steps and their quality management system is in accordance with ISO guidelines, they can apply for the certification. Some representative from these registration bodies will visit the workplace or factory and observe the procedures. If satisfied, they will provide an ISO certification which is valid for three years.

Read more on ISO 9001 Standards at http://www.iso9001store.com