What is ISO?
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is a worldwide federation of national standards bodies from more than 140 countries, one from each country.
ISO is a non-governmental organization established in 1947. The mission of ISO is to promote the development of standardization and related activities in the world with a view to facilitating the international exchange of goods and services, and to developing cooperation in the spheres of intellectual, scientific, technological and economic activity.
ISO's work results in international agreements which are published as International Standards.
There is more to ISO 9000 than meets the eye. What is usually overlooked is the that the standard is an interpretable standard. A system that is good for one company is not necessarily good for another.
The requirements of the ISO 9000 Standard provide the framework for a management system that, if followed, can help the small foundry achieve consistency in product quality. Through the use of the continuous improvement techniques contained within the standard, the foundry also can make improvements in its profitability, along with generating increased customer confidence in its products. There is no magic in the standard. The current version of ISO 9000 merely contains the concepts, tools and attributes of a good, post WWII manufacturing quality system. Adherence to the standard can provide small companies increased efficiency and effectiveness of operations.
Steps to Achieve ISO 9000 Registration
Evaluate and Select Registrar
Choosing a Registrar is an immensely important task. The Registrar that you choose will be a long-term partner with your business. Get one that knows your industry and that you feel you can work with. Personality, chemistry and fit between your business and the Registrar are primary considerations. You should have a comfort level in establishing a long-term relationship with a particular Registrar. If you are a foundry, the Registrar must be foundry qualified. Is the Registrar approved for work in your field of business? This means he has had industry experience, background and expertise either working in or auditing other foundries. There are other considerations in selecting a Registrar. The accreditation marks he issues will determine what countries recognize your registration. The Registrar’s number of years of experience is a consideration because you don’t want to be the company he learns on. Recommendations by your clients or customers should be considered. Check references provided by the Registrar. Find out if other companies would use the same Registrar again. Review all aspects of the Registrar’s fee schedule. Can you afford him? Don’t take it on faith that this Registrar is the least expensive or will provide the most services. Determine if there are any scheduling issues in meeting your time frame.
What does it take?
The efforts involved to attain ISO certification can take typically ten months or more. A large amount of time and internal effort and resources is required in the assessing, streamlining and documenting internal processes.
Only after months of preparation, a company will finally be ready to undergo an audit, which in situations is preceded by a preliminary assessment by the chosen registrar. The actual audit focuses on the documentation of the ISO compliant quality system, validation of the system performance through documented evidence of work and several internal interviews.
Auditing
To maintain certification, the company is audited once every six months in the next two years to check to see if, in practice, the business is still operating in a consistent manner as outlined by its own documented system of policies, procedures and practices.
Conclusion
Being a small or medium sized business is hard enough to maintain without any added costs. By adding in a Quality System certification, the investment will start paying for itself at time of implementation. This is done with the right partnerships with organizations providing grants and discounts. The willingness to help small and medium sized business grow is so extreme, that companies who reach into the available pockets, can meet and exceed the larger competition on the market.