ISO 9001 is the International Standard for quality management systems that many businesses must have. It is published by the International Organisation for Standardisation, ISO, which is primarily concerned with manufacturing and technology. In this article, we are going to discuss some of the main benefits of this standard for various businesses and explain how you can get it in Australia. Let’s start with the benefits.
Improved efficiency
The misconception that “to earn more, one needs to work harder” is no longer advocated. Business is all about providing services and gaining profits in return. Now, we’ve come to realise that the better we perform the job, the higher our profits will be. As ISO 9001 is mainly concerned with quality improvement, it provides a framework wherein the business can employ the best possible practices to deliver the best product/service. It provides the best way to reduce costs and improve quality which entails gaining more profit.
Brand recognition
As mentioned above, ISO certifications are required from businesses that wish to operate internationally. Working with businesses from other countries has the benefit of reaching out to more customers, and that means having your brand recognised by more people. This means that by obtaining an ISO certificate, your business will stand out among the crowd and will ultimately gain more attention which, in turn, lets you access international projects and gain more profits.
Customer satisfaction
What is the single most important thing that customers expect from a product or service provision? It is by far the quality of the product they receive. Your customers have certain needs and expectations from the product or services that you offer. As long as those needs and expectations are met, they’re going to be loyal to you. And how will you guarantee that your product meets your customers’ expectations? Qualifying for ISO 9001 requires following certain procedures that guarantee the quality of your product. Therefore, by operating within ISO 9001 framework, you will automatically guarantee product quality and, ultimately, customer satisfaction.
Higher revenue
When you get ISO 9001 certificate, you are officially a business that uses its resources the best way possible, has the means to work with other businesses from around the world, and cares a lot about customer expectations. This has the benefit of being recommended by your customers to other people. As a result, you will receive more and more customers and increase your income. Now, let’s see how you can get ISO 9001 certification in Australia.
Gap analysis
The first step to getting ISO 9001 certification in Australia is running a thorough gap analysis in your company to find out what you need to do to qualify for the certification. In doing so, you need to find a certification body that has been regulated by the Accreditation System of Australia and New Zealand. This certification body will help you with several things, including:
- Finding out which sectors of your business need improvement so that you qualify for ISO 9001 certification.
- Decide if you need assistance from a certified ISO consultant or if you can achieve compliance on your own.
- Defining the extent to which the ISO 9001 certification will cover.
- Preparing compliance documentation for the formal assessment
- Choosing an ISO management team from among your staff, and
- Making a detailed and easy-to-follow plan to meet the ISO 9001 certification.
Internal audit
In most cases, businesses have issues to get feedbacks from their internal process to qualify for ISO 9001 Standard. Internal audit could provide a checkpoint to assess the performance and evaluate the effectiveness of the implemented system. After getting a clear picture of your business’s status, you will know what you need to add to your system so that you can apply for ISO 9001 Standard. This is also what you can expect from a Certified Body or ISO consultant. The range of required improvements depends on your business’s current status, its size and resources, and the kind of service/product that it offers. Considering these aspects, a perfect internal audit might take from a few weeks to several months to complete. After making sure that you have made all the necessary changes, it’s time to move on to the implementation phase.
Implementation
Before formally applying, you need to make sure that your quality management system will work well within the framework required for obtaining ISO 9001 Standard. Here, you should ask your team to work exactly according to the new procedures, prepare related work instructions for those tasks that the ISO 9001 Standard requires, and keep records of the new processes, which will be of great value for compliance verification. If the quality management system is implemented successfully, then you can formally apply for the ISO 9001 certification.
Application and formal assessment
After you formally apply for ISO 9001, an independent ISO Certification Body will assess your quality management system. If the certification body confirms that your company meets the requirements, you will receive the certification. If there are any non-conformance sectors in your business, you will have to reaudit those sectors and apply again.
Certification
Once you finally receive a compliance verification from a certified boy, you will receive the ISO 9001 certification, which lasts for three years. During this time, your business will be audited once a year to confirm your system’s compliance with ISO 9001. When your certification expires, you need to go through another reassessment process and renew your certification.
In conclusion
Obtaining the ISO 9001 certification in Australia could be a rather teasing and time-consuming job if you intend to do it on your own. There are certain issues that you, as a business owner, may not be able to deal with singlehandedly. If you start with the wrong plan, you might end up wasting months of hard work without getting the certification. To make sure that you will obtain the certification, contact Integpro experts and let them do the bulk of the work. This way, you will get the certification in the shortest time possible and take your business to the next level.
