ISO is the International Organization for Standardization at the work place. It helps to make documents with required standards, guidelines, specifications, or characteristics. ISO standards enable organizations to streamline their production process and ensure the consistency and safety of their products. It also helps promote global collaboration and compatibility and allows companies to access new markets. ISO certification enables them to adopt the best practices and efficiently increase the market share. The current marketplace is customer-centric, and only those organizations which can accurately deliver according to customer expectations will increase. ISO certification allows organizations to understand customer requirements better and helps them implement efficient approaches to ensure that their needs are met. Highly satisfied customers translate to more business opportunities.
ISO standards are valuable for businesses of any size and sector. It allows them to enhance brand recognition, and provide end-customers with the guarantee that the product is safe, tested, and reliable. The manufacturing sector gains ISO certification for the following reasons:
- Demonstrate their reliability to their surroundings, such as purchasers, suppliers, government, and other business partners.
- Meet regulation requirements at a lower cost.
- Deliver real value through material and resource savings
- Get sales and marketing advantages.
How to achieve ISO Certification?
Achieving and maintaining ISO certification is based on voluntary, independent audits. Before you can get certified, you must develop and document the production processes, implement correct procedures to demonstrate your ability to maintain the quality standards.
- Develop your management system: You must identify the core business processes. The employees must come together to document the processes efficiently. Review, approve and distribute the documents to the key stakeholders who need access to it.
- Implement your system: Make sure that the procedures are aligned with the documentation. The employees must have the requisite knowledge and training for the tasks they perform. When implementing the system, create an effective reporting environment that covers effective inspection, testing, corrective and preventive actions, management review meetings, monitoring of objectives, statistical techniques, etc. Gather measurable data at each stage to measure its effectiveness and address the gaps.
- Verify the System’s effectiveness: Conduct an internal audit, and ensure that the system and processes are compliant and effective. Closely review the management systems to identify its strength and weaknesses. Accordingly, take corrective or preventive action.
- Register your system: Once you are through with the internal audit process, you can select the appropriate certification body or registrar. They will review your management system documentation to determine its alignment with the applicable standard. Once the third-party assessor becomes satisfied, your organization will be granted the certification.
How much does ISO Certification cost?
The cost of ISO certification depends on various factors. It depends on the amount of time and resources you need to spend to implement the standard within your organization. The other cost variables include employee training, audit duration, documentation necessary for effective internal audits. It also includes the cost of registration, registering the management system, and assigning a third-party assessor to conduct an external audit. Often organizations choose to outsource ISO consultancy to guarantee success in the certification process. It also adds up to the costs.
To Conclude:
ISO certification process is complex, but it is well worth the effort. Companies can reap various benefits that will enable them to improve their bottom line significantly.
