How to Get an ISO 9001 certification?

Your company is no longer growing, employees are not meeting their performance targets, and customers aren’t happy with product or service quality. Perhaps you’ve already triggered a downfall. Obtaining an ISO 9001 certification can prove highly supportive at this stage, helping you improve on all performance fronts. It’s the most recognized quality management standard that’s sought after by small and large businesses from all over the world. Not only can it be implemented quickly but it also requires minimal investment.?

In this guide, you’ll learn how to get and ISO 9001 certification.

Prepare Yourself to Implement ISO 9001

Whether you’re small or midsize company, the first step to achieving an ISO 9001 certification is preparation, which also includes the decision about the certification approach you want to adopt. Most organizations will either implement the standard on their own or outsource the job to a consultant. Which approach you want to take will depend on your budget, staff availability, and level of urgency.

The preparation phase should most certainly involve training, through which you familiarize yourself with the latest version of the standard and its requirements. You’ll need to refer to the most-widely accepted interpretation of the standards and learn how to apply them. Be sure to keep both the management and employees by your side and have predefined targets and milestones in place.

Documentation

Since your documents need to meet the complex ISO 9001 standard requirements, managing them is the most challenging step in ISO 9001 implementation. If you choose to hire a consultant, make sure they know the ins and outs of your organization. The following are the most important documents your quality management system should manage:

o??Scope Statement

o??Quality Policy

o??Quality Objectives

o??Procedures

o??Forms

o??Work Instructions

o??Flowchart or process maps

Execution

During this phase, you need to make your employees familiar with the new procedures, helping them adapt and improve their work processes accordingly. To keep them motivated through the transition, empower your employees to redesign their work processes to adapt them to the ISO 9001 standard. Using process maps or flow charts can prove highly valuable at this step. They define how various functions connect with one another and where delays, repetition, and bottlenecks occur.

Internal Audit

Once you’ve implemented the ISO 9001 standard across your organization, carry our self-inspections to determine whether the system has been effectively deployed. It’s typically conducted by employees who have attended auditor training. They will observe the work processes, examine the records, and interview the staff and management with the objective to verify compliance with ISO 9001.

Final Audit for Certification Issuance

After completing your internal audit and compiling ISO records for 1 to 2 months, you’ll need to schedule an independent, third-party entity called ISO 9001 Registrar, who must be accredited by a recognized national accreditation body. If you perform well through this audit, you will be issued your ISO 9001 certification.

Conclusion

While obtaining an ISO 9001 certification demands a lot of planning, hard work, and struggles, if done right, you’re likely experience skyrocketing business growth. Following the above-explained steps should make the process straight forward. If you or the person responsible to apply for ISO 9001 certification doesn’t have experience implement the standard, I recommend hiring an experience consultant.

Yours in Operational Excellence

Abdulla AlThawadi