Why ISO 9001 Certification is important in India? An explanation of the Quality Management System

ISO 9001 CERTIFICATION IN INDIA

ISO 9001 certification in India is an international standard established to set a bar for clean and professional business practices. It is a certifying authority that can certify a company as following the highest standards of operations in its business, right from maintenance of equipment, safety measures for its employees and strong corporate governance. All companies need a strategic plan to meet the quality principles and guidelines essential for efficient business practice. An ISO 901 certification adds a certain weightage to the company’s brand regarding competition.

ISO 9001 standard is much more than a standard and should be a part of every company’s strategic plan rather than just a certification. The guidelines&quality principles in ISO 9001 certification are essential for good business practices.

All companies strive to increase their efficiency, customer satisfaction and profitability, but they rarely consider the standard and tap into the real power of ISO 9001. 

In this article, we will be shedding light on ISO 9001, how one can get certified and what are the benefits of the same

What Is ISO 9001?

The value of ISO 9001 Certification has been debated in recent years. Organizations that continue to debate rather than take action are registered to the prospect of poor business growth and cannot compete with organizations that have moved beyond debating the topic.

One of the most important benefits of this standard is the principle of employing the process, which is the approach to management. Achieving the ISO 9001 standards results in reduced waste, enhanced quality, productivity, attention to detail, and health and safety performance standards. Thus ISO 9001 should be considered a business management tool for the organization to drive and understand the real value and results.

Process Of Certification

ISO 9001 is a complete guide meant to be used as a business tool by the management, which greatly benefits the management, ultimately resulting in the company’s profitability. Every employee in the organization must have a basic understanding of how the organization functions, the revenues, the flow of cash, and the various processes followed. Without knowing these aspects of business, it will be difficult for the management to diagnose and solve problems. This process identification involves four principles.

1. Understanding and meeting requirements
2. Considering the process in terms of added value
3. Obtaining the result of the process and the effectiveness
4. Continual improvement of processes on the measurement of the objectives.

Meeting The Requirements Of ISO 9001

Most of the problems in the organization occur due to minimal knowledge about the ISO 9001 requirements, and it often results in the underperformance of the employees as they are not aware of what their job requires, which results in customer dissatisfaction. Understanding the requirements is the responsibility of both the parties involved. Both the employees and the customers must be educated on the standard requirements.

Documents Required For ISO 9001 Certification

The following are the documents that need to be submitted to the certifying authorities when applying for the ISO 9001 certification:

1. Company profile
2. Company Letterhead
3. Copy of a sales and purchase bill
4. Proof of the company’s registered address
5. Company PAN card
6. Company Visiting card

Processes In Terms Of Added Value

The organization should add value internally and externally, all through the way, starting from capturing the customer requirements to the final delivery.

This will become possible only when ISO 9001 is seen as a quality management tool, not a marketing tool to attract customers. This process helps transform the raw materials into the desired output. Without the proper utilization of ISO 9001, the organization will fail to add value when the output of the process is delivered.

New Standard

The ISO 9001 latest version was published in 2015, and all the organizations with ISO 9001: 2008 certification were required to update themselves per the 2015 standard. If not, the certification is void.

The important amendment made in the year 2015 was in Annex SL. A gap analysis was performed to identify any potential nonconformities so that they could be addressed to the standards of the certification audit. It includes the concept of risk-based thinking, new leadership requirements etc.

The audit process is both internal and external. Audits are the key component for becoming ISO certified.

On-Site Audits

These are performed in full days; the number of days depends upon various factors like the organization’s size, complexity, and nature.

Remote Audits

This is done via web meetings, teleconferencing or electronic verification of process, but this type is not very common.

A certification audit is where the selected registrar will inspect to verify conformity to the ISO 9001 certification standards. The auditor will interview the staff and review the documented information to ensure all ISO 9001 requirements are fulfilled.

Requirements

Some of the documents required are the quality manual, policy, objectives and records, and it also includes the six procedures, which are control of documents, records, internal audit, control of the non-conforming product, and corrective and preventive action.

Result

A company must understand its processes to monitor its performance and assess effectiveness. A quality management system should be a strategic part of the overall business plan, so it’s important to determine if the process is assisting the organization or why the process was initially created.

Continuous Improvement Based On Objective Measurement

Many organizations may not reach their full potential and remain stagnant because they don’t have a mechanism to drive continual improvement. They run by tackling the surface issues, putting up with firesand responding to day-to-day problems rather than addressing the process performance issues based on objective measures. This is why small and medium-sized companies remain at the same level, and large companies don’t achieve maximum profitability. ISO 9001 provides objective measures to drive improvement continually.

Conclusion

ISO 9001 Certification in India is a quality management system standard and should be used as a business management tool. Focusing on implementing this process approach will lead to a systematic method of identifying and controlling the process to ensure requirements are understood and met to add real value. Once the processes are mentioned through objective measurements, an organization can focus on the cause of process performance issues. 

ISO 9001 certificate should be used as an effective business management tool to ensure the company and its products adhere to this international standard. Once you understand this quality standard’s requirements, you can add value to your products & services. So, adhere to ISO 9001 certification and take your business to the next level.

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