Certification can be a useful tool to add credibility, by demonstrating that your product or service meets the expectations of your customers. For some industries, certification is a legal or contractual requirement.
ISO Certification
Pankaj N Mittal Associates ISO is an independent international organisation that facilitates innovation and leads way to the development of trade. The objective of ISO is to advance the improvement of standardisation in technology. ISO has listed internationally recognised standards (e.g, 9001, 22000, 14000) to encourage worldwide exchange of goods. ISO registration or ISO certification improves the credibility of your business and helps you get more business. You might have seen ISO 9001 Quality mark on products from large companies. This can be attained through ISO certification.
Certification can be a useful tool to add credibility, by demonstrating that your product or service meets the expectations of your customers. For some industries, certification is a legal or contractual requirement.
At ISO, we develop International Standards, such as ISO 9001 and ISO 14001, but we are not involved in their certification, and do not issue certificates. This is performed by external certification bodies, thus a company or organization cannot be certified by ISO.
However ISO's Committee on Conformity Assessment (CASCO) has produced a number of standards related to the certification process, which are used by certification bodies. Read more about CASCO Standards.
The ISO 9000 family addresses various aspects of quality management and contains some of ISO's best known standards. The standards provide guidance and tools for companies and organizations who want to ensure that their products and services consistently meet customer's requirements, and that quality is consistently improved.
ISO Certification is the proof to your stakeholders, customers and staff that you keep your promises. The main benefits include:
BENEFITS TO YOU
- Increased profit potential and market share
- Better utilisation of your time though improved resource management
- Saves you spending time and money on recurring problems, with many problems being resolved permanently first time round
BENEFITS TO YOUR CUSTOMERS
- Proof that you provide consistent, reliable and fit for purpose solutions
- Improve the customer / supplier relationship by responding proactively to customer feedback
- Issues are identified and resolved quicker, in many cases without the customer even knowing
BENEFITS TO YOUR STAFF
- Increases job security through enhanced business performance
- Improves job satisfaction as employees are clear about what to do and how it is to be done
- Boosts morale and motivation through improved training capabilities
ISO 9001:2015 sets out the criteria for a quality management system and is the only standard in the family that can be certified to (although this is not a requirement). It can be used by any organization, large or small, regardless of its field of activity. In fact, there are over one million companies and organizations in over 170 countries certified to ISO 9001.
This standard is based on a number of quality management principles including a strong customer focus, the motivation and implication of top management, the process approach and continual improvement. These principles are explained in more detail in the pdf Quality Management Principles. Using ISO 9001:2015 helps ensure that customers get consistent, good quality products and services, which in turn brings many business benefits.
When choosing a certification body, you should:
- Evaluate several certification bodies.
- Check if the certification body uses the relevant CASCO standard
- Check if it is accredited. Accreditation is not compulsory, and non-accreditation does not necessarily mean it is not reputable, but it does provide independent confirmation of competence. To find an accredited certification body, contact the national accreditation body in your country or visit the International Accreditation Forum.
The ISO logo is a registered trademark and cannot be used by anyone outside of ISO, unless authorised.
If you wish to use a logo to demonstrate certification, contact the certification body that issued the certificate.
There are multiple benefits of ISO registration. Some of the key benefits have been outlined below:
1. Get government tenders: ISO certificate is now required in a majority of government tenders.
2. Build credibility internationally: ISO certification helps your organisation helps credibility to build overseas business.
3. Better customer satisfaction: ISO standards are designed to enable an organisation to serve their customers better and hence increase customer satisfaction. ISO certification enhances customer satisfaction by meeting customer requirements.
4. Improve product quality: Since product quality matches the international level, this can reduce the risk order rejections which can occur due to the flaw in the product.
5. Improve business efficiency: ISO certification implementation enhances functional efficiency of an organisation. ISO certification agency helps you develop SOP's & work Instructions for all your processes. ISO implementations help to manage the resources effectively, as you become able to utilise all your resources to its maximum extent.
6. Improve marketability: ISO certification helps to improve the credibility of business with a current & new client which leads to creating niche market for business.
- ISO 9001 - Quality management
- ISO 10012 - Measurement management systems
- ISO 2768-1 - General tolerances
- ISO 14001 - Environmental management
- OHSAS 18001 - Occupational Health & safety management
- ISO 19011 - Guidelines for auditing management
- ISO 20000-1 - Information technology management
- ISO 22000 - Standard for food safety
- ISO 27001 - Information media security system
- ISO 31000 - Risk management
- ISO 4217 - Currency codes
- ISO 50001 - Energy management
- CE MARK - For certain products sold within European Economic Area
- HACCP - Hazard analysis critical control point