Your Journey to ISO 9001 Certification

• Preparation

Realistically, if you are new to the ISO 9001 standard, then you are going to need some guidance. Once contact is made, we'll discuss your requirements with you and suggest the solution that best suits your needs. After assessing your needs we will give you a fixed price quotation so that you know exactly how much your registration will cost.

• Application

Once you decide to go-ahead, we'll assign a Lead Assessor to you. He or she will be your principal contact throughout the registration process and beyond. They will build-up detailed knowledge of your business and will offer you the support you need.

• Pre-Audit Assessment

Your Lead Assessor will visit you to explain the standard and ensure you are prepared for your Audit Assessment. He or she will facilitate the process to ensure that all of the correct procedures are drafted; ensuring that all documented procedures cover the requirements of the standard. Together, you will then determine the appropriate timetable for your Audit Assessment. Many organizations benefit from a pre-assessment "dry run" and your Lead Assessor will be able to advise you on this.

• Audit Assessment

Once you are ready for your formal Audit Assessment, your Lead Assessor will make the required arrangements for you. On completion, you will be informed of the Auditor's recommendation before he or she leaves your premises.

• Registration & Certificate

Following the independent Auditor's recommendation, your registration will be formally confirmed. Soon after, your certificate of conformity to the ISO 9001 standard will be issued and sent to you.

What Are the Significant Changes to ISO 9001:2000?

The ISO 9001:2000 changes include:

• Easier adaptation to a wider range of organizations
• Focus on a process approach, including a process model
• More consistent terminology
• Reduction in the amount of required documentation
• Enhanced compatibility with ISO 14000
• Less-prescriptive documentation requirements
• Linkage of Quality Management System to organizational processes
• Continual improvement of the Quality Management System
• Significant emphasis on achieving customer satisfaction

In order to conform with ISO 9001:2000 requirements your organization should realize the following steps:

• Obtain information about the ISO 9000 family
• Obtain management commitment and designate responsible persons for QMS
• Prepare Action Plan
• Conduct awareness sessions with all personnel to explain ISO 9000
• Develop Quality Policy based on Company Mission and expectations of interested parties (stakeholders)
• Establish at relevant functions and levels within the organization measurable Quality Objectives including those needed to meet requirements for products
• Identify QMS processes and bring them into conformity with ISO 9001:2000 requirements
• Identify parameters for each process that is necessary to organize control over it, for example process outputs, inputs, resources, cycle time at alias
• Identify and ensure personnel qualification and competency needs for each process be done as it was planned
• Create documented procedure required by ISO 9001:2000
• Measure, analyze and improve identified QMS processes
• Establish and maintain a Quality Manual

Are the ISO 9000 Quality System Standards only for countries that are exporting?

This is a common misconception. Any company which implements a quality system to an ISO 9000 standard stands to gain significant benefits for its operation even if the company is not involved in export. This is true regardless of its size, product or service. The ISO 9000 standards indicate basic conditions which a company must satisfy for compliance. The standards are generic, and therefore do not give specific details on how the company will attain compliance.

Facilitating successful ISO 9000 implementations since 1991

• Published 10 books on ISO 9000
• Been a monthly columnist for Quality Systems Update Magazine for over two years
• Presented at every major conference on ISO 9000 in the USA
• Been recognized as a Certified Quality Manager by the American Society for Quality
• Innovated “Quality as a Profit Center” at companies such as Dell Computer

Key topics include:

Interpreting the ISO 9001 requirements, with emphasis on auditing beyond compliance

• Understanding the audit system using the ISO 19011 guidance document
• Embracing the role of audit team leader
• Planning activities including audit program management, audit agenda planning, checklist preparation, and team management skills
• Reviewing and evaluating quality system documentation
• Conducting the audit, including interviewing skills, managing audit team members, addressing problems with the auditee, and daily reporting activities
• Reporting nonconformities in a factual, helpful manner
• Writing a summary report from your audit

Summary of ISO 9001:2000 in informal language

• Decisions about the quality system are made based on recorded data and the system is regularly audited and evaluated for conformance and effectiveness.
• Records should show how and where raw materials and products were processed, to allow
• Products and problems to be traced to the source.
• You need a documented procedure to control quality documents in your company. Everyone must have access to up-to-date documents and be aware of how to use them.
• To maintain the quality system and produce conforming product, you need to provide suitable infrastructure, resources, information, equipment, measuring and monitoring devices, and environmental conditions.
• You need to map out all key processes in your company; control them by monitoring, measurement and analysis; and ensure that product quality objectives are met. If you can’t monitor a process by measurement, then make sure the process is well enough defined that you can make adjustments if the product does not meet user needs.
  

Aims Management Consultants International Policy on Transition to other standards

Aims Management Consultants International recognises that to some Organisations, ISO 9001:2000 Registration is just a starting point for a Company’s development under International Standards.
Holders of certification to ISO 9001:2000 can extend Certification to other Standards and aims management consultants International Technical Staff would be pleased to discuss this.
As part of the ongoing surveillance process, assessment personnel will raise reports against the customers current standard(s) and will also highlight any areas for development to ensure a smooth transition to additional standards. Upon confirmation that a customer has implemented the necessary systems to acheive the standard, an aims management consultant’s International branded certificate of registration will then be awarded.

ISO 9001:2008 does not contain any new requirements

They have recognised that ISO 9001:2008 introduces no new requirements. ISO 9001:2008 only introduces clarifications to the existing requirements of ISO 9001:2000 based on eight years of experience of implementing the standard world wide with about one million certificates issued in 170 countries to date. It also introduces changes intended to improve consistency with ISO 14001:2004.

As a result of attending this briefing you will:

• Gain an understanding of the main changes embodied within the new ISO9001:2008 standard
• Be familiar with the structure of the ISO 9000:2008 suite of standards (ISO9000, 9001 and 9004)
• Be aware of the Eight Fundamental Principles on which the new standard is based
• Be aware of the responsibilities placed on 'Top Management'
• Gain a basic understanding of the 'process approach' to management systems
• Be familiar with the need to establish and describe the 'sequence and interaction of your processes'
• Understand the requirements for setting and measurement of 'Quality Objectives'
  

What is the impact of ISO 9001:2008 on certification?

One year after publication of ISO 9001:2008 all accredited certifications issued (new certifications or re-certifications) shall be to ISO 9001:2008. Twenty four months after publication by ISO of ISO 9001:2008, any existing certification issued to ISO 9001:2000 shall not be valid.

Policies, Procedures and Forms

Procedures define who does what, when, and where. Work instructions explain how a particular task within the process is performed. Forms are created, controlled, and distributed and should be re-enforced with training so that workers know how and when to use them. Completed forms create the records that capture key process data - important information needed for improvement.
This is the beginning of a quality management system. The intent of the Documentation Phase is to collect data (records) from your processes that you will employ in the next phases and lead to real improvement. To move out of the Documentation Phase you will need to chart, trend and analyze your data. Typical tools used to get out of this phase include Pareto charts, histograms, run charts, and SPC (Statistical Process Control), all critical pieces for phase three.

Read this basic ISO 9000 Implementation Overview

The ISO 9000 standard is a set of requirements on how to do business. The requirements affect virtually all aspects of a company (not only the quality control function, as some people wrongly believe).
In order to implement ISO 9000, a company must do all of the following:
a) Create numerous documents: you need to write an ISO 9000 quality manual, ISO 9000 procedures, a quality policy, quality objectives, and company-specific work instructions. This can be much easier if you use good templates (as available in our Products section) and modify them to meet your company's circumstances.
b) Implement the procedures and instructions. Unless your company has been following other quality management systems, it is very likely that your ISO 9000 procedures and work instructions require you to do some things differently. You will need to adjust business processes and train employees so that your new procedures and instructions are being followed.
c) Keep records. ISO 9000 requires you to keep many records. Well-designed forms (as available in our Products section) can be of tremendous help; they not only help you meet the record keeping requirement, but they can also serve as a step-by-step guide on how to perform a certain process (for example, the selection of your vendors).

We are an ISO 9000 Registrar committed to open lines of communication

We let you know at once what we are seeing, doing, and finding. We invite your feedback and discussion. No preconceived ideas, just open, objective minds.
The ISO 9001 audit process involves interviewing employees at all levels and reviewing records. Our purpose is to document with objective evidence the system's effectiveness. SQA holds daily wrap-up meetings to go over the events of the day and solicit further input if needed.
At the end of the assessment, SQA conducts a closing meeting where findings and recommendation status are discussed. The entire process is intended to be value-added.

What are the ISO standards?

Developed by the ISO Technical Committee 176, published in 1987 and updated approximately every five years, the standards comprise five documents whose focus is Quality Assurance Systems.
These five documents are:
a) ISO 9000 - Quality Management and Quality Assurance Standards - Guidelines for selection and use
b) ISO 9001 - Quality systems - Model for quality assurance in design, production, installation and servicing. This is the most comprehensive standard with 20 clauses.
c) ISO 9002 - Quality systems - model for quality assurance in production and installation. This standard has 18 clauses.
d) ISO 9003 - Quality systems - Model for quality assurance in final inspection and test. Requires conformity with 12 clauses.
e) Quality management and quality system elements - Guidelines

Cost of an ISO 9001 Quality System

While operating a good ISO 9001 quality system results in significant cost savings (even after paying the periodic audit fees of about $1,000 - $2,000 per auditor day), the initial ISO 9001:2008 implementation can be expensive. Large companies often spend in excess of hundred thousand dollars, while small companies could get by with a thousand dollars. We found that small to medium size companies can achieve significant savings by implementing the ISO 9001:2008 quality system internally in-house using a good template or sample for a quality manual and quality procedures. We prefer the featured ISO 9000 starter package which includes everything you need to start ISO 9001:2008 because it provides detailed customization instructions, it is so easy to understand and easy to implement, and the resulting ISO 9001:2008 quality system is very un-bureaucratic and efficient.

MONITOR AND MEASURE YOUR QMS PROCESSES

• Select suitable methods to monitor and measure the processes that make up your organization's QMS.
• Monitor and measure your QMS processes.
• Take appropriate action whenever your QMS processes fail to achieve planned results.

A little bit of history

Traditional views of quality control and assurance methods have produced a negative legacy which ISO 9001 2000 seeks to address by its newly simple, proactive, and adaptable approach.
Its popularity has been promoted by its use as a supply chain management tool by many large industries, who quickly saw the cost benefits of requiring suppliers to be independently audited and certified to ISO 9001, rather than maintaining their own staff to carry this out.
The ISO 9000 standard is continually being revised by standing technical committees and advisory groups, who receive feedback from those professionals who are implementing the standard.

Why choose World Certification Services?

World Certification Services offer value-added assessment and registration services thanks to trained and experienced Lead Auditors with the ability to undertake their work impartially and in a friendly manner. World Certification Services has a wide scope range and has plans in place to extend these further when client needs are identified. World Certification Services is continuously assessed by UKAS and ANAB so you can be sure that high standards are maintained at all times.

International Automotive Task Force Announces New Auditor Development Process

The International Automotive Task Force (IATF) recently announced a new auditor development process for existing auditors.
The new process uses a Web-based delivery system for the training and assessment of IATF auditors. The system will be available on January 31 in English and all other IATF-translated languages on March 31.
All current IATF auditors whose credentials expire before May 31 will be extended until June 30 to allow them time to review and comply with the new process. All auditors who are affected by this extension will be required to complete both the Knowledge and Application Assessments by June 30.