ISO certification

Why do a company/organization/ business need certification?

Certification is not a paper. It is a declaration and insurance of a certain thing, status, or event that is true. It's a written or printed document issued by an institution or individual with public authority.

Reason for getting ISO certification to a company

• To achieve Standardization

The main aim of Standardization is to ensure product safety, consistency, and compatibility, make product production simple in other industries, and promote global collaboration on the product. Standardized provide economic, undeniable technological experience and social benefits to the company.

• To satisfy customer requirements.

This is a dangerous and essential reason for the requirement of ISO certification in a company. Just only for customer satisfaction, many companies want ISO certification as users to trust ISO certified products; otherwise, the customer will not do business with uncertified suppliers. But in business, customer satisfaction is the key to success and not for one time; it's a plural and continuous manner. Putting customers on priority and all the above can cost a lot more in business in the long run.

• To improve the quality of processes and products.

The main motive for creating and implementing ISO certification for a company or product is to improve the quality of processes and products. The result of certification is the stamp of a higher level of quality for the whole Organization and customer.

• To improve the consistency of the operation.

ISO certification improves the consistency of the operation and process related to the company. With a defined process of certification, operations can be easily completed. Customers are satisfied with the consistent product having the same output, dimensions, tolerance, and weight. When variation reduces in the process, its consistency improves. Variation is not acceptable by anyone. Therefore, it can be reduced by increasing control over your processes. It comes from a clear goal, i.e., collecting data about a process and understanding how to adjust it to keep consistent output. The ISO requirements help in improving the consistency of the process.

• To understand, describe and communicate the company's process

The IOS certification process should be identified and described using business metrics, and its main purpose is to manage better and control business processes. Business metrics goals are at the core of the system, where they understand and communicate the system's performance against your goals.

• To gain international recognition.

Organization position and image in the market are important factors in the business. They can be achieved with the help of ISO certification that keeps the company in a selected group. International recognition of a company is given by ISO certification.

• To facilitate collaboration in business.

ISO certification is an international process; therefore, it facilitates company international business or internationally collaborative business, development, and research of new products. This also ensures the invariability and compatibility of the product or input used in its process.

• To save money, increase efficiency, and reduce waste.

ISO management system allows the company to approach perfection in every field. Yet this is not a perfect system but still helps improve the efficiency of the product and process to make it more consistent and achieve goals more regularly, providing tangible results. Poor quality and inefficiency of product depict that it’s a waste/ waste of money. Waste of money can be reduced by reducing variations, improving consistency, and increasing money.  

• Better decision making

The growth and success of the business depend on the decisions taken by its holder, and ISO certified quality management helps members take correct decisions regarding products by providing both information and processes to the management on which ones need tweaking or improvement. It improves the decision-making process due to which better quality products and services are delivered to the customer uplifting the business too.

• Marketability

The certification process facilitates enterprise marketing and advertising directly as ISO certification improves enterprise credibility.

• Credibility and revenues

Customers' satisfaction increases the business across the nation. ISO certification ensures the product quality and other services are accepted worldwide, which is the main reason for increasing the credibility and revenues of the business. Increment in revenues and credibility of the enterprise uplift the company's esteem in the business world among clients and against competitors.

• Empowered employees

ISO certification process empowered the employees by involving training and development of the managed team of the company. It provides basic information and required tools like instructions, procedures, and metrics to all the staff members to do their work in a better way. This process uplifts employees' careers because they get deep knowledge of their work through training.

• Meet the requirement for government contracts

Government agencies also require ISO certification to set up the company standard in public sector work, not just in private companies. Some municipalities, the private sector, and government agencies need ISO certification as an essential requirement for government contracts.

• Customer interaction and smooth ordering

ISO certification process helps companies improve their operational and quality process that avoids misunderstanding about services and products of the company. This feature increases the customer's satisfaction regarding the product and makes a smoother communication with the customer.

• Reduce cost

A better ISO quality management system with IOS certification can reduce the cost of maintenance. The quality of the product and process can be improved by:

• Avoiding rework
• Repairs
• Rejected products
• Recalls
• Warranty claims
• Outdated inventory
• Improving production control
• Improving operational process
• Service provision that results in an error and fewer services and products.

The main objective of ISO certification is to improve the development of Standardization of a company's product.

Here’s a list of ISO certification

ISO 639	Language code
SA 8000	Social accountability
SO/IEC 17025	Testing and calibration laboratories
ISO 9001:2008	Quality management system
OHSAS 18001	Occupational Health and Safety Management System
ISO 37001	Anti-Bribery Control System
ISO 31000	Risk management
ISO 27001	Information Security Management System
ISO 10002	Compliant Management System
ISO 14001:2015	Environment Management System
ISO 26000	Social responsibility
ISO 28000	Security management
ISO 22008	Food Safety Management
ISO/IEC 27001	Information protection control
ISO 20121	Sustainable events
ISO 8601	Date and Time format
ISO 3166	Country codes
ISO 4217	Currency code
SO 13485	Medical devices
EnMS EN 16001 ISO 50001	Energy management

The steps of obtaining ISO certification in India are as follows:

The main aim of IOS certification is to improve the business's overall credibility and efficiency that satisfy the customer's needs. With the increment in business trends and competition among businesses, providing high-quality, safe, and efficient goods and services is mandatory to sustain itself in the market. In India, for ISO certification business or individual has to follow certain steps:

Step 1: Firstly, choose the type of ISO certification

According to the business, the type of ISO certification is selected as various types of ISO certification are available in the market as listed above. For example, ISO 14001 is for environmental management; ISO 22008 is for food safety management, etc.

Step 2: Choosing an ISO certified body

International standard Organization does not provide certification itself to the companies as external bodies do. An applicant who desires ISO certification should choose a recognized and credible certification body. The following points should be kept in mind while choosing the registrar.

• Evaluation of all the ISO certification providers whether they are following the CASCO standard (the ISO committee that works on the issues related to conformity assessment.
• Check whether ISO certification is accredited or not. This is not compulsory, but the certification body must meet ISO Accreditation bodies' requirements.

Step 3: Follow this process for ISO certification

• Create a contract/ application
  An application is filled, or a registrar or applicant should agree on a contract that defines the obligations and rights of both parties. This contract also includes confidentiality, liability issues, and access rights.

• Quality document review
  In this step, all the important documents and quality manuals related to various policies and procedures followed in the Organization are viewed by the ISO auditor. This will help identify the possible gaps against the requirement stipulated in the ISO standard.  

• Make an action plan
  After finding all the gaps, an action plan is prepared to eliminate these gaps. This action plan consists of a list of the required tasks performed to bring the desired change into the Organization. Employees are also trained to work efficiently by adapting new procedures and making them aware of ISO standards in terms of quality standards and work efficiently.

• Initial certification audit
  This step is divided into two categories- Stage 1 and Stage 2

Stage 1

An ISO auditor audits changes made in organizations, and after that, they identify the possible non-conformities in the system and related procedures to the desired quality management system. These non-conformities are further distinguished in minor and major non-conformities. The applicant carefully accesses these non-conformities, and through modification in the techniques & processes used by the Organization, it can be aligned as per desired quality standards.

Stage 2

When all the changes are updated in the Organization, the ISO auditor monitors them and does the final auditing. During monitoring, the ISO auditor confirms the elimination of all the non-conformities or not as per the ISO quality standards. After auditor approval, the final ISO audit report is prepared and forwarded to the registrar.

• Completion of ISO certificate
  After addressing all non-conformities and fulfilling the ISO audit report, the registrar grants the ISO certification to the Organization or individual who applied for it.

• Surveillance audit
  A team of members (authorities) organizes a timely survey of the ISO standards to ensure that the organizations are maintaining them.

What is the fee for ISO certification in India?

In India, ISO applicable fee varies from company to company or type of company. The price of ISO certification is computed based on restrictive parameters as below:

1. What is the size of the company?
2. How many employees are there?
3. The processes of the Organization
4. The level of hazard related to the scope of the offering of the company
5. What’s the complexity of the control system?
6. The wide variety of operating shifts    

How much time is involved in the ISO certification process?

The time taken to fulfill the ISO certification process may vary from company to company, depending on the company's size. The time duration is approximate:

Small Organization	6-8 months
Medium Organization	8-12 months
Large Organization	12-15 months

 

Major challenges for ISO certification

The major challenge for ISO certification are the myths spread among the market players regarding quality management system, and these myths are as follows:

1. Excess theory -  Instead of practical implementation, the market players emphasize theory, but the fact is that the due implementation of QMS adds real value to a business/organization.
2. Mere document – In most cases, organizations spend the cost of their normal operation focusing on documentation and criteria for ISO certification, which further impedes the implementation of the ISO certification process. A wise manager includes the most crucial documentation at the right time.
3. Excess competition- Sometimes, the Organization's competitive spirit goes overboard, which reduces the motivation to provide the best quality. Instead of it, they must focus on client satisfaction. By replicating all the myths, an organization can overcome challenges related to ISO certification and make it a smooth process.
4. Lack of attention to the customers – To reach the desired QMS level, the Organization or manufacturers mostly ignore customer satisfaction. Still, they forget that this is the basis of achieving a QMS to attain ISO certification.
5. Lack of flexibility – In the business, customer satisfaction constantly changes, affecting reaching the QMS level. In the case of technological upgrading, the rigidity that can impede implementation and improvement has been noticed. Therefore flexibility must evolve in QMS.