ISO 9001 Checklist
Download the Smithers ISO 9001 Certification Checklist to find out if your organization's quality management system is ready for an audit.
ISO 9001 Certification – Ensuring Consistent Quality
In our current business environment, where instant online reviews, support forums, and viral word-of-mouth social reactions are commonplace, organizations are constantly looking for answers to the questions regarding how to improve the quality and consistency of their products or services. Failing to continually grow in this area can lead to negative reviews or messaging relating to a company’s offerings and can potentially cost said company a lot of money.
The ISO 9001 standard has an answer to these questions, as ISO 9001 requirements lay out the critical framework and criteria for a robust quality management system designed to support more consistent processes and procedures, leading to more consistent outputs.
What Is ISO 9001 Certification?
ISO 9001 certification is a globally recognized system for quality management standards. It's the most applied quality management standard used across the globe. To consistently satisfy stakeholders and customers, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO.org) provides a common approach to your organization's management.
Achieving ISO 9001 certification for your quality management system provides a proven foundation for effective and continually developing processes that support your team in delivering the best possible outcomes consistently. Therefore, building out your processes and adopting a quality management system that adheres to ISO 9001 requirements is critical to your business’s long-term success.
As a simplified overview, the IS0 9001 standard contains seven critical sections that need to be fleshed out in your quality management system, and which an ISO 9001 audit will look at:
- Context – Processes and their instructions
- Leadership – Must have management and leadership buy-in and outlined responsibilities
- Planning – What are your quality objectives? Risks? Opportunities?
- Support – Needed resources, documentation
- Operation – Design, external providers, and creating products or delivering services
- Performance Evaluation – Monitoring, measurement, and analysis
- Improvement – How are you continually improving
There are hundreds of sub-clauses and passages that detail ISO 9001 requirements. The standard is written in a way that lets you create a quality management system that makes sense for your business, regardless of how unique.
How an ISO 9001 Audit Works
Below is a graphic presenting a high-level overview of the basic parts of the ISO 9001 certification process, including the auditing elements:
With something like an ISO 9001 audit, each auditor that assesses certification to the ISO 9001 standard has their own unique style in how they conduct interviews. They construct their own lists of ISO 9001 audit questions based on an audit plan put together for your specific organization. The details of the scope of the audit are only available to you and your company prior to their scheduled visit.
ISO 9001 Certification Helps Ensure Consistency in Quality
No matter whether your organization is a larger, multi-location entity, or a small-to-medium sized business, documented and defined processes should be in place to keep things running at as close to an optimum level as possible. Organizing these processes into a quality management system, and then seeking an ISO 9001 audit to achieve ISO 9001 certification, is a globally recognized verification of your commitment to quality. The consistency in quality and production that develops out of a well-designed and implemented quality management system can be undeniable. For instance, here are just a few examples of ISO 9001 certification benefits:
- Increases in productivity and consistency in outputs
- Reduced risks, cut costs and waste from nonconforming products
- Can help foster innovation and enhanced value through self-governance
- Public recognition of your quality commitment
Quality and consistency go hand-in-hand, and certification to the ISO 9001 standard is a fundamental way to maximize both elements in your business’s operations, while delivering excellent customer service and retention to your client base.
Looking to Move Toward ISO 9001 Certification?
Smithers offers the best support and service options when scheduling your ISO 9001 audit to help you achieve ISO 9001 certification. This process can be instrumental in improving your organization's performance through increased process efficiency and output. Request a quote for ISO 9001 certification services today and begin your journey with us.
