Quality Certification

Quality Certifications are recognized as a mark of quality excellence in many management

system of foundation. They are designed to help you advance your career, improve your
organization, and prepare you to be a more accomplished and effective quality-focused
professional. Advantages of obtaining a Certification include increased income potential, a
competitive advantage, and global recognition.

ISO (International Organization for Standardization)

The International Organization for Standardization independent Non-governmental

international organization with a membership of 162* national standards bodies one member per
country, with a Central Secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland, Through its members, it brings
together experts to share knowledge, consensus-based, market-relevant International Standards
that support innovation and provide solutions to global challenges.

'International Organization for Standardization' would have different acronyms in different

languages (IOS in English, OIN in French for Organisation internationale de normalisation),
founders decided to give it the short form ISO.ISO is not an acronym for the International
Organization for Standardization; it is a word, “ISO,” derived from the Greek “isos” meaning
“equal” . ISO has published more than (21000) International Standards and related documents
covering almost every industry, from technology to food safety, to agriculture and healthcare.

1-ISO 9000

ISO 9000: A set of international standards on quality management and quality assurance,
critical to international business.

ISO 9000 Quality Management Principles

 Customer focus
 Leadership
 People involvement
 Process approach
 A systems approach to management
 Continual improvement
 Factual approach to decision making
 Mutually beneficial supplier relationships

The ISO 9000 family

Contains several quality standards. These standards are all exactly the same across the globe,
though they are called by different names. Each member country has their own entity authorized
by ISO to manage the standards, but they are all the same exact ISO 9000 quality documents and
set of requirements.

1
 Standard definition Objectives/Tasks
ISO Fundamentals & Vocabulary for ISO This provides guidelines on
9000 9000 Quality Standards selection and use of quality
management and quality
assurance standards.
ISO The Requirements of the ISO 9000 It has 20 elements covering
9001 Standard companies and organizations design, development,
whose activities included the creation production, installation and
of new products servicing.
(Obsolete) Companies that It has 18 elements covering
ISO manufacture but don’t design production and installation.
9002 It is same as ISO 9001
without (excluding) the first
two tasks (units), design and
development (R & D)
functions.
ISO (Obsolete) Companies that perform It has 12 elements covering
9003 Inspection and Test only final inspection and
testing for laboratories and
warehouse.
Managing for the sustained success of This provides guidelines to
ISO an organization. interpret the quality
9004 management and quality
assurance. This also has
suggestions which are not
mandatory

Benefits or advantages of ISO 9001 QMS

Following are the benefits or advantages of ISO 9001 QMS:

1- It helps customers get quality products consistently.
2- It helps in having easy market entry for the products.
3-It eliminates process errors and inefficiency.
4-It helps in obtaining easy approval on bank loans and business licenses.
5-It increases customer satisfaction with companies using/adopting ISO practices.
6-It offers internal effectiveness and efficiency.
7-It increases market share and profitability.

2
Drawbacks or obstacles of ISO 9001 QMS

1- Stakeholders do not have adequate understanding of ISO 9000 certification process. It requires
training to implement it successfully.
2-It is expensive to establish quality management system (QMS)

Steps in ISO 9000 Registration

1- Selection of appropriate standard from ISO 9001, ISO 9002 and ISO 9003 using the
guidelines given in ISO 9000.
2. Preparation of quality manual to cover all the elements in the selected model.
3. Preparation of procedures and shop floor instructions which are used at the time of
implementing the system. Also document these items.
4. Self-auditing to check compliance of the selected model.
5. Selection of a registrar and making application to obtain certificate for the selected model.

A registrar: is an independent body with knowledge and experience to evaluate any one of the
three models of the company’s quality system. Registrars are approved and certified by
acridities. The registrar, on successful verification and assessment will register the company.

Before selecting a registrar, one should know the following:

1. Accreditors of the registrar.
2. Background and credibility of the registrar.
3. Cost of registration through the proposed registrar.
4. Expected harmony between the company and the potential registrar while working towards
implementing ISO model in the company.