What’s Really Required for a Small Company to Get ISO 9001 Certification
ISO 9001 may be one of the world’s most renowned standards for quality management systems in organisations, but for some reason there are many misconceptions about what it actually takes to get certified. For bigger companies, implementing the norm is usually not an issue as they now how to approach such major improvements, but for the smaller companies, certification seems almost like an exam that can be passed of failed. In reality, getting certified to ISO 9001 is not that difficult if you follow some simple rules and most of all – see the need to change and improve.
Focus on improvements
Audits are not your enemy – they find what exactly is wrong in your current processes to allow you to improve on them and get certified! All the requirements of ISO 9001 may seem hard to understand at first, but they were created in such a way that they are applicable regardless of the size of your business. In fact, the very first step of implementing an ISO-based quality management system is an internal audit that will show you every single element that needs improvement and help you think about the strategy that you are going to take in order to make them.
First of all, you need to shift your focus from the paperwork that goes into the process of implementing the new quality management system and instead, focus on the results that you want to achieve. After all, the certificate that you will get is not just an order of good work – the new quality management system is there to help you actually maintain a certain level of quality in all your processes. Specialists say that it’s better to view ISO 9001 implementation as a structured improvement program rather than a road to a certificate that will serve you as a marketing point for your product.
What happens when you implement ISO 9001 properly
Getting a certification is your goal? How about achieving an overall better services, good customer reviews, workers that actually know what to do and how to do it and a general well-organised system that runs your company smoothly? That’s what ISO 9001 is all about. And if you don’t feel strong about going through the process by yourself, try outsourcing some help instead of worrying how are you going to afford extra stuff! After all, the implementation process should be a collective effort of everyone involved in the company.