Saturday, October 3, 2009

Assessment to ISO 9001

Once all the requirements of ISO 9001 have been met, it is time for an external audit. This should be carried out by a third party, accredited certification body. In the UK, the body should be accredited by UKAS (look for the ‘crown and tick’ logo). The chosen certification body will review the quality manuals and procedures. This process involves looking at the company’s evaluation of quality and ascertains if targets set for the management programme are measurable and achievable. This is followed at a later date by a full on-site audit to ensure that working practices observe the procedures and stated objectives and that appropriate records are kept.
After a successful audit, a certificate of registration to ISO 9001 will be issued. There will then be surveillance visits (usually once or twice a year) to ensure that the system continues to work.

ISO 9000 series of standards

ISO 9001 is one of a series of quality management system standards. It can help bring out the best in your organization by enabling you to understand your processes for delivering your products/services to your customers. The ISO 9001 series of standards consist of:
- ISO 9000 – Fundamentals and Vocabulary: this introduces the user to the concepts behind the management systems and specifies the terminology used.- ISO 9001 – Requirements: this sets out the criteria you will need to meet if you wish to operate in accordance with the standard and gain certification.- ISO 9004 – Guidelines for performance improvement: based upon the eight quality management principles, these are designed to be used by senior management as a framework to guide their organizations towards improved performance by considering the needs of all interested parties, not just customers.
ISO 9001 is suitable for any organization looking to improve the way it is operated and managed, regardless of size or sector. However, the best returns on investment come from those companies that are prepared to implement it throughout their organization rather than at particular sites, departments or divisions.

ISO 9000 in brief

ISO 9000 is the International Organization for Standardization. It is made up of national standards institutes from countries large and small, industrialized and developing, in all regions of the world.
ISO 9000 develops voluntary technical standards which add value to all types of business operations. They contribute to making the development, manufacturing and supply of products and services more efficient, safer and cleaner. They make trade between countries easier and fairer. ISO standards also serve to safeguard consumers and users in general of products and services – and to make their lives simpler.
ISO 9000 develops only those standards which are required by the market. This work is carried out by experts on loan from the industrial, technical and business sectors which have asked for the standards, and which subsequently put them to use.
These experts may be joined by others with relevant knowledge, such as representatives of government agencies and testing laboratories. Published under the designation of International Standards, ISO standards represent an international consensus on the “state of the art” in the technology concerned.
http://www.iso9001store.com
http://www.iso-consults.com

How to implement ISO 9000

How to implement ISO 9000 Thru ISO 9000 Template & SoftwareThere are few ways of implementing the ISO 9000 in a particular organization. One of the easy way is hiring a ISO 9000 consultant in a turn key project basis. This definitely will incur cost. However, some of the organization will appoiint an employee to start up the ISO 9000, by learning thru seminar, preparing the ISO 9000 Quality Manual, Procedure & Form by using some of the ISO 9000 Template sell at internet. Some of the provider such as http://www.iso-consults.com & http://www.quality-template.com are providing such services.
Normally, the template provide will provides the ISO 9000 Quality Manual Template, Standand Procedure & also sample form for the ISO 9000 implementation. One of the provider like http://www.e-wia.com give a very complete set of the ISO 9000 Templates, which will help an organization to implement the ISO 9000 easily.
There are also some ISO 9000 Softwares which helps the organization in the ISO 9000 implementation. Some of the ISO 9000 Software are listed below:
a. Document Control Software - Software which Helps the organization to keep track & control of the ISO 9000 Documents.
b. Audit Control Software - Software which helps the organization to keep track of internal & external audit events.
c. Training Record Management Software – Software which helps the organization to keep track of Training records in a system.
d. Calibration Software – Software to maintain the calibration records for tool & machinery.

ISO 9001 Software

Companies that need quality management systems realize that products like ISO 9001 software are important tools to insure their product safety, consistency and profitability. Using ISO 9001 software can help guarantee that any company can monitor productivity, customer satisfaction and product quality with reports that contain solid information.
This information is now vital to management in order for maximum efficiency in any industry. This is why ISO 9001 software is vital to any sized company. Continuous improvement means continuous profitability. Here are just a few reasons why:
o Companies increase sales because of better performance, quality, and delivery. This propels you ahead of your competition.
o ISO 9001 software helps retain employees and attract more highly qualified employees because they are assured of a controlled and consistent work environment.
o The experience of a more professional workplace boosts employee morale.
o Reduced operating costs dramatically increase your company’s productivity, leading to higher profitability.
o Customer satisfaction and higher profitability expand your market share and demand for your consistently higher product quality.
o When you’re compliant or certified to the appropriate standard, the businesses that work with you know that quality objectives, continuous improvement, and customer satisfaction are your goals.
Many companies require that their suppliers are ISO 9001 compliant; therefore, once you’re certified, your opportunities increase. ISO 9001 software has be utilized and has developed experience of helping manufacturing, service, and distribution organizations to be more efficient and more profitable through continuous improvement programs. We help you to implement the time-tested methods of continuous improvement to measure performance, analyze data, and apply the appropriate process changes. This includes using ISO 9001 software.
ISO 9001 software also offers a suite of modules to enable you to manage the document management and ISO 9001 Compliance Management process. These modules enable complete transparent system measurement with targeted action items ensuring all persons are notified of tasks and carry them out in a prompt and efficient manner. ISO 9001 software provides training in there software and also bring extensive experience in implementing the ISO 9001 software in various environments.

How long does it take to implement ISO 9001?

It depends on you and your company. The very fastest is 2-3 months because most ISO 9001 registrars require at least 2 months ISO 9001 track record before the certification audit.
More realistically: if you have a relatively small company (say, less than 20 employees), if your employees are motivated and if they don’t oppose change, if you have the backing of all senior executives, if you and other managers are ready to put some significant time and efforts into this endeavor, and if you use a really good ISO 9001 quality manual template (a sample ISO 9000 quality manual that you can modify to make it your own ISO 9000 quality manual), then you may be able to get certified in as short as 3-4 months; templates for ISO 9000 forms are an additional time-saver. Some companies are significantly slower, with 6-12 months not being unusual.
However, companies that write their ISO 9001 quality manual and their ISO 9001 quality procedures from scratch, rather than base them on a proven sample ISO 9001 quality manual, often take up to 2 years or longer.

Templates for Quality Manuals and Forms

Using templates for ISO 9001 quality manuals, procedures and forms can have huge benefits for an organization. Templates are usually in the form of existing and proven manuals, procedures and forms. Follow the link for more information on the use of Templates.
The ISO 9000 quality manual and the ISO 9000 quality procedures are a vital part of any ISO 9001 quality system.
You can get a huge head start by purchasing a good template quality manual (a sample quality manual that you can
use as a good example and that you can modify to make it your own quality manual). There are numerous
companies that sell ISO 9000 quality manuals that you can use as templates to create your own quality manual.
We urge you to carefully evaluate them before making a purchase decision as we found the majority to be
convoluted, bureaucratic and cumbersome.