Congratulations to Zachry Engineering Corp. for being recommended for ISO 9001:2015 certification. Learn more about their products and services at https://www.zachrygroup.com.
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Congratulations to US Med-Equip for being recommended for ISO 9001:2015 certification. Learn more about their products and services at http://www.usmedequip.com/
Congratulations to GATE for being recommended for ISO 9001:2015 and OHSAS 18001 certification! To learn more about GATE's services, visit http://www.gateinc.com.
Congratulations to Walkup Company for being recommended for ISO 9001:2015 certification. Learn more about their products and services at http://www.walkupco.com/
Small Business Tips and AdviceWe’ve all heard stories – a company has spent a king’s ransom and several years attempting to get ISO 9001 certified. I’ve personally been introduced to companies that have spent 2-3 years or even longer, with little or no accomplishments to show. Unless you’re doing something wrong, getting ISO certified DOES NOT take that long, particularly if you’re a small business.
Plan Ahead and Then Execute Aside from having, or at least having access to someone that has, a general understanding ISO 9001’s requirements, you need to be thoughtful of planning and execution (I mentioned this in a previous post also). Once you start down the road to ISO 9001 certification, you’ll have a specific number of requirements to meet. How long this will take is a matter of planning, and how committed and dedicated you are to the outcome. I have to emphasize committed and dedicated at this point, as most companies don’t fail because of technical understanding. If you have a question, buy a book, search the internet, ask a friend who knows. Most companies fail either because they fail to plan, or fail to execute. They lose focus. Another shiny object comes along that they want more. Now, sometimes we all need a helping hand, and it would be counter-intuitive for me to criticize the use of consultants to aid this process along. However, I’m not a big fan of anyone that promises that you can “get certified in 30 days”. Legitimacy concerns aside, I just don’t think the end result is going to be very good. A management system is a system for managing your business. It’s likely taken you years, if not decades, to grow your business up to this point; should you be looking for the quickest solution? I do think that most small businesses can be certified within 1 year; most can be accomplished within 6 months, or even as little 4 months. I can’t remember a time I’ve been proven wrong on this point. Save Some Money I’m not talking about being cheap or frugal. I mean you establish a budget, and set aside the financial resources accordingly. This won’t necessarily be cheap; however, it doesn’t have to be overly expensive. The terms “expensive”, “reasonable” and “cheap” are all terms which are relative to the size of your wallet, as well as the expected ROI. As stated above, a management system is a system for managing your business. A poorly designed or poorly implemented management system can wreak havoc on your bottom line; should you be looking for the cheapest solution? Without knowing your business details, I can’t provide much insight here on what this will cost. All I can say on this point, is to make sure to get several quotes, check references and compare your options. And make sure you’re comparing apples to apples. Not all consultant are equal. Consider Your Business Goals Most of us are not designing satellites, developing the cure for cancer, or building nuclear weapons. Some of the biggest criticisms of ISO have been the extent of documentation required, and the complexity of the ISO standard when applied to a small, simple, business. You may have heard that ISO 9001 doesn’t fit small businesses, service companies, etc. - it does; it just may not fit in the way that you’re approaching it. Stated for a third and final time, a management system is a system for managing your business. What has worked for other companies might not be suitable for you. Cost-saving, cookie-cutter templates and “canned” approaches to compliance likely won’t be a good fit, as each business has its own character and ways of operating; should you be looking for the easiest solution? Be wary of anyone that tells you a specific task, method, activity or approach is “required by ISO 9001”. That’s often a ploy to avoid logical discussion. ISO’s requirements focus on outcomes; the standard is pretty ambiguous when it comes to stating how things should be done. Remember, ISO 9001 was originally intended as an auditing standard, NOT a design standard. If you meet the requirement, and you can prove the required outcome is achieved, how you accomplish it is your decision. Conclusion Getting ISO 9001 certified doesn’t have to take long, doesn’t have to be cost-prohibitive and doesn’t have to mean a disruption to the way you do business. In fact, ISO 9001 certification can be achieved in a short time, with a reasonable budget, without distracting from your day-to-day business operations. If any of these concerns arise during your certification efforts, something is going wrong; take some time to figure out what is happening. Planning your ISO 9001:2015 Certification JourneyAnyone reading this might think that we’ve gone back to square one with this post, but not everyone starts at the same point in their journey to ISO 9001 certification. Hence, there’s a reason for the discussion that follows.
“Why” should be established first The first question to consider before “how” do we get ISO certified, is to make sure that everyone involved has a good understanding of “why” - Why do we need or want ISO certification? This question is important - it’s going to take work, its going to take resources and it’s going to take commitment. One of the responsibilities of Top Management is communication. An understanding of “why” goes a long way towards clarifying the importance and the urgency for the organization to achieve ISO certification. A clear sense of purpose will unify and will align the organization towards achieving this goal; ambiguous platitudes about the benefits of ISO will do nothing of value, and may create the perception that ISO certification is less important, and has less priority, than other work activities. “How” should include milestones and dates Over a decade ago, here on the outskirts of Houston TX, we came up with 4-step approach to getting ISO certified. I know of other consultants that have their own, similar approach. I even know of some cases where our approach has been directly copied. Someone is always trying to create a better mouse-trap with their name on it. 1. Document your system 2. Implement your system 3. Verify your system 4. Get ISO certified! These four steps are established in the order shown, as this approach is both logical and systematic. In fact, this is the actual process model upon which our own company’s ISO 9001 certification is based. You can’t implement a system until its been documented; you can’t verify a system until it’s been implemented; and finally, a system can’t be certified until everything is complete. When I’m planning for certification, I’m starting with an end-date in mind, then working backwards, configuring my plans against the deadline that’s been established. Regardless if the timeline is 1 year, 6 months or 3 months, the work is essentially the same, as the requirements don’t change; only the duration does. The dates for any deliverables can then be aligned to correspond with the overall project calendar. Milestones and dates should be tracked religiously Over the course of preparing for certification, there’s roughly 300+ requirements that must be met. Depending upon the company, some of these requirements will already be in place, and some of these requirements will be new to the organization. With a set start date, a set end date, and a set number of requirements, getting prepared for certification really is a matter of scheduling. While very much an oversimplification, here’s the easiest example: If we have 32 weeks (8 months) to get ISO certified, and have 320 requirements (tasks), we’d then we’d need to meet 10 requirements per week (320/32 = 10). If we accomplish 12 tasks per week, it will put us well ahead of schedule; if we’re only able to complete 7 tasks per week, we’ll miss our target date by almost two months. It sounds simple doesn’t it? Simple is a relative term; getting ISO certified is simpler than learning brain surgery. Getting ISO certified is likely simpler than preparing your own taxes. It is probably not going be as simple as ordering a pizza, or pumping a tank of gas. Company size, age, the number of employees, complexity of the business, internal cooperation, internal coordination and institutionalized bad habits all play a factor. All else being equal, what’s your personal experience and understanding of ISO 9001 Quality Management Systems? Do you have a background in QA / QC? Do you have a degree in Management? Getting ISO 9001 certified should be considered 1/3 understanding, 1/3 planning and 1/3 execution. We’ve been asked to fix many certification efforts that have failed; most often the cause is a lack of planning and execution, not a lack of technical understanding of ISO 9001. Congratulations to Sigma Electronics for being recommended for ISO 9001:2015 certification. To learn more about Sigma Electronics products and services, visit http://www.sigmaxfmr.com/
Congratulations to EMR Gold Metal Recyclers for being recommended for ISO 9001:2015 certification. Learn more about their products and services at www.goldmetal.com.
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