5 Proven Steps to Ensure Successful ISO 9001 Certification for Your Small Business
Small organizations often hold misconceptions about ISO 9001 certification, and are unsure about how to meet the huge requirements of the certification. This confusion is because ISO 9001 is a recognized international quality assurance certification and has been adopted by nearly 170 countries and by many more businesses. Therefore, smaller organizations assume that the process to get certification might be complex, costly, time-consuming, and require a lot of expertise. However, if you are a small business owner and have heard that ISO 9001 certification is a backbreaking process which is too hard for a small business to complete, this blog is a must-read.
‘ISO 9001 is for quality assurance for all businesses, irrespective of their size or type. It is the most effective tool for businesses to improve their process efficiency and improve the quality of the products or services.’ Achieving certification establishes trust in the customers, investors, partners, and suppliers of a business. ISO 9001 applies to big businesses and small businesses, as businesses of all sizes want to improve their product or service quality or their efficiency to build confidence in its stakeholders.
While it is true that getting ISO certification can involve a long procedure that may take 2-3 months, it is a pretty official and systematic procedure. Follow all the steps carefully to ensure your gets business certified-
We will show you the steps here.
5-Steps to ISO 9001 Certification
Step 1: Preparing Yourself
If you are not familiar with the certification process, everything needs to be done officially. Seeking assistance from a trusted quality assurance services consultancy is always recommended. They will help you become familiar with the ISO 9001 standard, its requirements, and even provide some basic training with the quality management representatives of your company regarding the standard implementation.
Step 2: Documentation of ISO 9001 QMS
The next step is about the development of the documentation templates that will talk about everything that your company will do to meet the requirements of the ISO 9001 standard. It is considered the most difficult step because it involves documenting the uniform quality management system or QMS that you will adapt to meet the certification criteria. Therefore, the documentation will show several aspects, including quality policy, objectives, QMS process flowchart, the scope of the QMS, and the quality controls manual. With so many requirements to be incorporated in the documentation, it is advisable to get the help of professionals to ensure they are error-free.
Step 3: QMS Implementation
Once you are ready with the documented QMS that follows the ISO 9001 requirements, implementation must start. Implementation calls for the participation of your company’s staff, especially everyone in the quality assurance department. You need to ensure that the implementation of the QMS is in line with the documentation, and that no aspect is missed. To ensure successful and effortless implementation, provide training to the staff on the importance of QMS and ISO 9001 benefits. You will also need to introduce new responsibilities or roles for the employees to put the QMS into action, and help them understand how their work processes will be changed to align with the QMS.
Step 4: Internal Audits
Conducting an internal audit is a step that will ensure ISO certification. The audit process can be conducted by an internal team made of quality representatives, or by professional auditors from any quality assurance agency. The auditors will check your newly implemented QMS and ensure it is effectively operating and adhering to the ISO 9001 standard. They will help you discover any discrepancies in the QMS and get them corrected. The internal audit checks the QMS, helping it get ready for certification.
Step 5: ISO 9001 Certification
The last step is getting the ISO 9001 certification mark finally affixed to your business. The certification body will conduct an external audit, which you will need to prepare your staff for. Passing this audit is not difficult if the internal audit has been carefully conducted and all nonconformances have been resolved.
Your company will be an ISO 9001 certified company soon after you complete this fifth step.
Key Takeaway!
We have put the entire ISO certification process into the five steps to make things understandable for you. No matter your business size is, the certification process remains the same for all! It is simplified, less costly….and guaranteed! Having experts by your side will give you fewer worries or errors, and will. will prevent you from skipping anything or committing errors amid the complex steps. So, hire experts in quality assurance certification for your convenience. At Compliancehelp Consulting LLC, we are ISO experts, and we lend our assistance to businesses when they are looking for certification.
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