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What is ISO?
ISO has two
meanings, the first being a Greek word meaning equal and
secondly as an acronym for International Standard Organization. ISO
is a group
of over 100 national standards institutes that create standards such as ISO
9000. The organisation's history can be traced back to 1906. ISO as it
is today officially started in 1947. These institutes have public and
private sector backgrounds enabling ISO to
help develop standards that are
beneficial for businesses and society as a whole. ISO 9000 is in fact
just one of over 15,000 standards with input from ISO!
ISO
is not a certification body. Each participating country has it's own
accreditation bodies that authorise certification bodies. These
certification bodies then audit the organisations. Although known as
ISO 9000, the name of the standard of which organisations are audited
to is called ISO 9001:2000.
Read More:
What is ISO 9000?
What is ISO 9001:2000?
Visit official ISO website
What is ISO 9000?
The ISO 9000
standard has evolved over several revisions. The initial 1987 version
(ISO 9000:1987) had the same structure as the UK Standard BS 5750,
with three 'models' for quality management systems, the selection of
which was based on the scope of activities of the organization. The
language of this first version of the Standard was influenced by
existing US and other Defence Military Standards, so it was more
accessible to manufacturing and was well suited to the demands of a
rigorous, stable, factory-floor manufacturing process. With its
structure of twenty 'elements' or requirements, the emphasis tended to
be overly placed on conformance with procedures rather than the
overall process of management; which was the actual intent.
The 1994
version (ISO 9000:1994), was an attempt to break from the practices
which had somewhat corrupted the use of the 1987 standard. It also
emphasized quality assurance via preventive actions, and continued to
require evidence of compliance with documented procedures.
Unfortunately, as with the first edition, companies tended to
implement its requirements by creating shelf-loads of procedure
manuals and becoming burdened with ISO bureaucracy. Adapting and
improving processes could be particularly difficult in this kind of
environment.
The latest version of the standard (ISO 9001:2000), sought to make a radical
change in thinking by actually placing the concept of process
management at the heart of the standard, making it clear that the
essential goals of the standard - which had always been about 'a
documented system' not a 'system of documents' - were reinforced. The
goal was always to have management system effectiveness via process
performance measures. This third edition makes this more visible and
so reduced the emphasis on having documented procedures if clear
evidence could be presented to show that the process was working well.
Expectations of continual process improvement and tracking customer
satisfaction were made explicit in this revision. A new set of eight
core quality management principles, designed to act as a common
foundation for all standards relating to quality management, were also
introduced; namely:
- Customer
focus
- Leadership
- The involvement of people
- A process approach
- A system approach to management
- Continual improvement
- A factual approach to decision making
- Mutually beneficial supplier relationship
Read More:
What is ISO 9001:2000?
What is ISO
9001:2000?
ISO 9001:2000 is simply the latest version of the ISO 9000
standard. You cannot be certified to ISO 9000, only to ISO 9001:2000.
Read More:
What is ISO 9000?
Benefits of Certification
ISO
90001:2000 certification will mean an organisation has better
documentation and/or control of processes because of their
constant quality control. Naturally, this means less time is
wasted due to inconsistencies in processes which will result in
increased productivity and reduced costs.
With employees working more efficiently, the benefits will be
passed onto customers. ISO
90001:2000 focuses organisations on customer satisfaction through
seeking feedback. This feedback is then analysed so improvements
can be made if necessary.
Ultimately, if the organisation looks after it's customers then
financial reward in the long term is almost certain. Research by
the UCLA showed that "U.S. publicly held companies traded on the
New York Stock Exchange that receive certification under the ISO
9000 Quality Standard show significant improvement in financial
performance compared to those companies that have not pursued the
standard."
For organisations looking to work in areas such as the public
sector it may be necessary to be ISO
9001:2000 certified to tender for work. Even if this is not the
case, ISO
9001:2000 is a great subject for marketing and in some sectors is
still very much a USP (Unique Selling Point).
The Auditing Process
As ISO 9001:2000's aim is to promote continual review and assessment
an external audit is only part of the process of certification.
Internal staff are trained by external orders so it can be verified
that the system is working. If not, the internal auditors can improve
or fix problems that have been found.
Two types of auditing are required to become registered to the standard: auditing
by an external certification body (external audit) and audits by
internal staff trained for this process (internal audits). The aim is
a continual process of review and assessment, to verify that the
system is working as it's supposed to, find out where it can improve,
and to correct or prevent problems identified. It is considered
healthier for internal auditors to audit outside their usual
management line, so as to bring a degree of independence to their
judgements.
Since the introduction of the latest 2000 standard (previously ISO 9001:1994) internal auditors are expected to do more. Rather than
auditing for compliance, internal auditors are expected to use their
best judgement to decide what is working and what isn't. In the case
of something not working, the auditor is expected to decide what
should be done for the better of the organisation.
Many external auditors (certification bodies) offer pre-assessment
services to let you know will be expected.
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