ISO 9001:2015
Quality Management System

ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management System (QMS) is internationally recognized as the world’s leading quality management standard and has been implemented by over one million organizations in over 170 countries globally. ISO 9001 implemented, to its full potential, becomes an invaluable asset to your organization.

The purpose of the standard is to assist companies in meeting statutory and regulatory requirements relating to their product while achieving excellence in their customer service and delivery. The standard can be used throughout an organization to improve performance or within a particular site, plant, or department.

ISO 9001 contains eight key principles of quality management which is not auditable but do form the fundamental characteristics of quality management:

1. Customer focus and customer satisfaction
2. Leadership
3. Involvement of people
4. Process approach
5. A systematic approach to management
6. Continual improvement
7. Factual approach to decision making
8. Mutually beneficial supplier relationship

Benefits of ISO 9001:2015

1. Become more cost-efficient
2. Increased credibility and competitiveness
3. Lower costs and shorter cycle times through the effective use of resources.
4. Enhanced customer satisfaction and improved customer loyalty leading to repeat business.
5. Increased revenue and market share obtained through flexible and fast responses to market opportunities.
6. Integration and alignment of internal processes will lead to increased productivity and results.
7. Consistency in the delivery of your product or service.
8. Improved communication, planning, and administration processes.

HOW IS ISO 9001 USEFUL TO SMALL BUSINESSES?

Evidently, the most recent version of ISO 9001, i.e. ISO 9001:2015 is much lucrative for small and medium enterprises. There are innumerable benefits for small businesses such as

• The ISO 9001:2015 standard throws light on the results and is less rigid in terms of paperwork.
• This ISO certification standard is highly flexible and can be easily adaptable by small enterprises, especially those dealing with providing services.
• ISO certification 9001:2015 provides all relevant guidelines for organizational growth rather than merely focusing on how to run your business.
• As a matter of fact, many small businesses are now adopting ISO certification 9001 due to its simplicity.
• Besides, it is more helpful in achieving desired results that can be noticed by target customers. 

ISO Certification Process 

The ISO certification process is comprised of a few main steps involving the filling of the application form, review of documents, and detailed auditing procedures. Below, we will look at the general outline of how to apply for and register an ISO for a business or product:

1. Applying: After having selected an appropriate ISO certification for a product or business, the applicant needs to fill in an application form for the registrar that can be submitted in form of a letter or email. The application will need to contain essential details, such as the scope of the certification, general details of the organization including its features and general information, and sought certification standards.
2. Review of Documents: After the submission of the application form, the auditor will review the various documents regarding quality control and various policies and procedures of the organization.
3. Pre-assessment: The pre-assessment stage is where the entrepreneur needs to or have a review conducted of the pre-existing quality control standards in his/her organization to identify any omissions or faults in the policies related to quality management.
4. Action Plan: After the initial review by the auditor and identification of the faults in the existing quality control standards of the organization, he/she will need to review these comments and eliminate the existing deficiencies. This accounts for the action plan.
5. First Audit: The first or initial audit stage involves a thorough inspection by the auditor regarding existing and revised quality controls and the findings of the non-conformities are categorized either as minor non-conformances or major non-conformances. Minor non-conformances constitute minor procedural faults or gaps in the system in compliance with ISO standards. Major non-conformances include the faults in the existing quality standards system that can lead to the potential collapse of the system.
6. Final Audit: By the final audit stage, all major non-conformities will need to be removed and if all the quality gaps have been addressed and rectified, the ISO auditor will prepare the final audit report and forward the ISO certification application to the ISO registrar.
7. Get ISO Certificate: After all the non-conformities are addressed, the registrar will provide the ISO Certificate.
8. Surveillance Audit: These are the periodic audits that will be conducted to ensure that the organization is maintaining ISO quality standards or not.