ISO 9001 certificates began to be issued in 1987. Such a document determines how much management of the organization meets the criteria described in the ISO 9001 standard. You should not confuse this standard with GOSTs for goods, since ISO to a greater extent determines the reliability of the organization, the system of its work than the quality of the products. Although it should be recognized that the quality of the goods produced will inevitably grow when the implementation of this standard.
Why to the domestic entrepreneur certification of ISO 9001? Obtaining this document opens up great opportunities to the company-it becomes possible to participate in state tenders, cooperate with the military-industrial complex, enter the international market. Getting a certificate is a great way to overcome competition, increase the prestige of the company in the eyes of partners, improve the management of internal processes.
During the certification, the enterprise should pass several stages. The ISO 9001 standard is universal, it is applied to many types of business, so there are no clear requirements for the operation of equipment and doing business.
The first stage is the planning and selection of the necessary documentation, the study of ISO standards and the possibility of applying them to the activities of the enterprise. The second stage is the implementation of the tasks set, this includes the selection of business processes, for the analysis of the quality of which you will have to enter various indicators. For each business process, it is necessary to develop methods by which its quality will constantly improve. The number of mandatory business processes must be at least six, in addition, methods for additional business processes are developed, as well as a general guide to improve quality. After the implementation of all the plans and approval of the methods, a preliminary internal audit of the organization is carried out. The third stage is an audit by already specialists of the certification center and the issuance of the ISO 9001 certificate with a positive decision of the commission.
Of course, it is difficult to independently prepare the company for testing and an audit on ISO 9001, so they often resort to the help of various consultants. In addition, it is worth noting that if the company has long been in the market and has strong positions, it has its own internal quality standards and they fit into the ISO 9001 frames, then no preparatory stages are required – you just need to invite specialists to conduct certification.