HOW TO GET ISO 9001 CERTIFIED
To get ISO 9001 certified, you will need to follow these general steps:
- Learn about the ISO 9001 standard: Familiarize yourself with the requirements of the ISO 9001 standard and what it takes to become certified. You can find resources online or consider hiring a consultant to guide you through the process.
- Establish a quality management system (QMS): Develop and implement a QMS that meets the requirements of the ISO 9001 standard. This may involve conducting a gap analysis to identify areas where you need to improve your processes, policies, and procedures.
- Conduct an internal audit: Verify that your QMS is functioning as intended and identify any non-conformities or opportunities for improvement through an internal audit.
- Correct any non-conformities: Address any non-conformities found during the internal audit and ensure that your QMS is compliant with the ISO 9001 standard.
- Schedule a certification audit: Choose a third-party certification body and schedule a certification audit. The certification audit will verify that your QMS meets the requirements of the ISO 9001 standard and will typically involve a review of your documentation, procedures, and records, as well as interviews with key personnel.
- Receive certification: If your QMS is found to be compliant with the ISO 9001 standard, you will be awarded certification. You can use the ISO 9001 certification logo on your marketing materials and indicate that you are ISO 9001 certified.
- Maintain certification: Undergo periodic surveillance audits to ensure that your QMS continues to meet the requirements of the ISO 9001 standard.
The time and effort required to become ISO 9001 certified can vary depending on the size and complexity of your organization. It is important to keep in mind that the investment in ISO 9001 certification can lead to improved processes, increased customer satisfaction, and enhanced reputation.
Developing a Quality Management System according to the relevant ISO standard, implementing the system procedures and getting the system certified by a certification body are key components of ISO Certification.
The following are the four essential steps involved in the ISO Certification process:
- Develop a Quality Management system – Development of Quality management system begins with identifying your core business process and creating essential documents like a Quality Manual, Mandatory Quality Procedures and Standard Operating Procedures. System should be developed to review, approve and distribute them to everyone who needs access and involve employees in the process.
- Implement the system – Once the Quality Management System is developed, the next step is to implement those procedures. Employees needs to be aware and trained about your Quality Objectives, Quality Policy and competent to perform their tasks. Focus of this operational stage is to identify product or service requirements, design & development, externally provided processes, and release of products or services. Other key areas addressed at this phase Customer satisfaction, Internal audits, Management Review Meetings, Corrective and Preventive actions .
- Evaluate the system – Once the system is implemented, the next stage is to verify that the system is effective and the processes are being carried out as planned. Conducting internal audits, management review meetings and addressing any issues identified with corrective and preventive actions takes place during this stage.
- Audit the system – Auditing the system refers to the certification audit process. This is done by a third party certification body or registrar. ISO 9001 Certification is issued after a successful audit of your quality management system. ISO 9001 Certification is good for 3 years. However, in order to maintain the validity of the certificate, the certification body has to do an annual audit of your quality management system called surveillance audit.
FREE ISO 9001 CONSULTATION
Liberty Management Group (LMG) offers an initial onsite FREE ISO 9001 consultation. The purpose of this initial consultation is to find the GAP between your existing quality management system in relation to the requirements of ISO 9001 Standards.
After the initial onsite visit, LMG consultants will provide you with an estimate of the cost and the time frame involved in the ISO 9001 Implementation and Certification process. Any further contract or commitment is required only if LMG is selected as the consultant to provide further services.
