Companies must have checks and balances in place to optimize their work processes, ensure consistency, and release high-quality products/services in the market. Organizations face cut-throat competition in the current marketplace, and only those who can demonstrate their effectiveness and efficiency will be able to succeed. Adopting the right standards is crucial for companies to ensure that the goods and services they produce are safe, interoperable, and compatible. ISO (International Organization for Standardization) is an independent, non-governmental, international organization that provides standards to companies so that they can continuously innovate, adapt, and evolve to satisfy customers and regulatory requirements.
While ISO develops the standards, it is not involved in the certification process. A third-party Certification Body (CB) performs audits to validate a company’s management system. You can obtain ISO certification in Qatar by selecting the right Certification Body. Here are a few tips to make the right selection.
- Experience: The auditors of the CB should have an optimal experience in auditing an organization’s management system within your industry. Review their work portfolio and market experience to validate their experience. You can go through the customers’ testimonials and references to understand the pros and cons of selecting a particular CB.
- Specialization: Ensure that the CB has specialization and experience in certifying organizations in the chosen standard. It will help them leverage best practices and audit efficiently. A long-term, mutually valuable relationship is beneficial, thus ensuring you can develop a good working relationship with the registrar.
- Cost: The certification costs depend on various factors. It covers costs for certification audit, surveillance audit, and recertification audit. Determine how the CB will incorporate these costs optimally.
- Accreditation: Is the CB accredited? If yes, who has done it? While accreditation may not be mandatory, selecting an accredited company will bring out optimal results.
- Integrated audit: Your organization may start with implementing a particular ISO standard, but you would want to adopt other standards to improve business practices. Ask your CB if they can perform an integrated audit so that you can easily implement various standards.
- Language: Ensure that language conflicts does not pose a problem in the certification process. The auditor should be fluent in your language for documentation efficiency and other procedures.
The cost of ISO certification depends on various factors. For instance, if you are planning to obtain ISO 9001 certification for your organization to audit the quality management system, then you must consider various aspects such as:
- Size of the organization
- Industry sector
- Business complexity
- Number of employees
- Annual revenue
- Employees cost to develop the documentation, conduct system review meetings, and internal audits.
- Gaps between the organization’s current QMS and the ones in the ISO 9001 standard
- ISO consultant cost
- Ongoing maintenance costs
- Cost of certification auditors
- Surveillance audits
Benefits of ISO certification
- Meet customer requirements, strive to exceed their expectations, and improve their experience
- Gain a competitive edge over non-certified competitors
- Establish robust quality control processes
- Improve coordination and employee performance
- Enhance marketability of products, and expand market share
- Create consistency and confidence in your manufacturing business
- Reduce impact on the environment through sustainable work practices
- Identify errors and risks, and prevent problems from recurring
- Enhance profit margin
- Better documentation
To Conclude:
Adopting the right ISO standard will help you establish good practices and effectively implement, maintain, and manage the business processes. Thus, you can stay one step ahead in the competitive marketplace.
