What’s Required?
To receive your ISO 9001 certification, your Quality Management System (QMS) must comply with the requirements. During your audit, you’ll show evidence of the QMS at work. Even a small businesses can achieve the requirements.
How Long to Prepare?
It typically takes up to four months to prepare your QMS for an audit. Once the audit comes, our streamlined process helps you save time and money.
How Much Does ISO 9001 Certification Cost?
A typical audit costs between $3000-$5000. We offer virtual audits and other small business considerations to help you cut down on audit costs. Contact us for a no-hassle quote.
What is ISO 9001 Certification and Why Do I Need It?
ISO 9001 comes from the International Organization for Standardization. This organization develops management system standards recognized by businesses across the globe. These standards set internationally-recognized best practices, promoting global cooperation and compatibility, and keeping products and services consistent across a worldwide market.
ISO 9001 is the original quality management standard. It’s the world’s most widely recognized quality management system certification. When businesses think of quality, they think of ISO 9001.
By earning an ISO 9001 certification, you prove that you’ve successfully met international standards for quality management. Your certification proves you take quality seriously across your entire organization, and that you’re continually improving to achieve customer satisfaction. It’s an indisputable badge of quality recognized around the globe.
Trustworthy and Credible
You may face ISO certification as a customer requirement, especially if you contract with the federal government. Even if you don’t, this standard helps you build trust with customers and clients. It also builds credibility with investors and potential business partners. Before they even walk through your doors, they know you’re committed to quality and improvement.
Four Steps to Certification
1. Stage 1 Readiness Audit
During the Stage 1 Audit, your auditor reviews your management system to assess your readiness for the Stage 2 Audit. You’ll want to have your documents and policies in order.
2. Stage 2 Certification Audit
Here, the auditor will evaluate your organization against your management system. This will involve conversations with various members of your team, to make sure your quality goals have become part of company culture.
3. Fix Your Findings
Don’t panic. If your auditor discovers a nonconformance (something that doesn’t meet your QMS standards) you will have a period of time to take corrective actions. If a major nonconformance is found, this may require a second audit.
4. Receive Your Certificate
With your audit performed and any needed corrections made, you’re ready to receive your certificate. Your auditor will recommend you for official ISO 9001 certification.
Along the way, remember: The point of the audit isn’t to “whack you” for what you get wrong. If a nonconformance is found, you’ll have the opportunity to correct it. The audit process exists to help you meet the standards you’ve set as part of ISO 9001, and to prove those high-quality standards to the world.
ISO 9000 or ISO 9001?
You may have heard the name “ISO 9000.” Perhaps a customer or client has even asked you to acquire “ISO 9000” certification.
“ISO 9000” refers to a family of standards, all of which relate to quality. “ISO 9000” also refers a particular standard within that group. However, this is not a certification standard. It simply lays out the fundamentals and vocabulary of an ISO quality management system (QMS). Many people mistakenly refer to “ISO 9001” as “ISO 9000.” If you’ve been asked to certify to ISO 9000, you most likely must certify to ISO 9001.
Simply put: ISO 9000 lays out the vocabulary, ISO 9001 lays out the requirements.
The ISO 9000 Family Contains these Standards:
ISO 9001:2015: Quality Management Systems – Requirements
ISO 9000:2015: Quality Management Systems – Fundamentals and Vocabulary (definitions)
ISO 9004:2018: Quality Management – Quality of an Organization – Guidance to Achieve
Do, Plan, Check, Act
At the heart of ISO 9001:2015, you find the Plan, Do, Check, Act cycle (or “PDCA cycle” for short). This process-based approach helps you achieve effective quality management across your entire organization. When it comes to planning, the 2015 version of the standard emphasizes risk assessment. With a clear view of your risks and opportunities, you can make plans (Plan), carry them out (Do), review the results (Check), and act on your findings (Act). This cycle drives continual improvement.
The clauses and requirements of ISO 9001 follow the structure of this cycle. Once your auditor is satisfied that you’ve implemented those requirements, we can issue (or renew) your certification.
Why Do Organizations Seek ISO 9001 Certification?
The answers vary. Some companies seek out ISO 9001 certification to win contracts. Many government contracts offer extra points to companies with ISO 9001 certification, making those companies more likely to win the contact. Often, ISO 9001 certification appears as a contract requirement from a customer.
But remember: This isn’t about satisfying the requirements of one customer, or even winning a single contract. It’s about proving your standards to everyone you do business with, through an internationally-recognized mark of quality.
How Does ISO 9001 Benefit Your Business?
ISO 9001 certification isn’t just about getting a piece of paper in a nice frame (even though it’s a really great piece of paper). ISO 9001 brings tangible benefits to your organization. As you pursue certification, your processes will naturally improve. Certification helps you break your organization into processes and discover new areas for improvement. You might be surprised by the opportunities you discover!
All About the Customer
The ISO 9001 is about achieving internationally-recognized quality management. Quality management is about customer satisfaction.
When you follow ISO 9001, you consistently monitor and measure your processes, making sure to meet the quality standards you’ve set. You’ll gain the visibility you need to achieve improvement, in every step of your process.
As your quality improves, so will your customer satisfaction. Most ISO 9001-certified companies experience a decrease in customer complaints. If a complaint does occur, or if an issue arises, certified companies are prepared to handle it quickly and effectively.
Your Whole Team Focused on The Goal
ISO 9001 helps your entire organization pull in the same direction. It unifies management and employees around clear, shared company goals. During your audit, we’ll want to see evidence that your entire workforce knows the heart of your Quality Policy. Your employees should know why they’re doing what they’re doing. This isn’t only helpful for a successful audit; it’s helpful for a successful business.
That’s why you want to work with a certification body who understands small business. When your team expects a fair, focused, timely audit from an auditor who understands their business, they know the fruits of their labor will pay off.
Less Waste, More Efficiency
When you follow an ISO 9001 Quality Management System, your efficiency increases. You’ll also see a reduction in waste, which results from inefficient processes. Since ISO 9001 focuses on continual improvement, your efficiency will continually increase, reducing more waste and saving you more money over time.
When customers see your ISO 9001 certification, they know you’ll spend your time—and theirs—as efficiently as possible.
Your QMS, Recognized World Wide
Over one million organizations worldwide are certified to ISO 9001. When you receive an ISO 9001 certification, you join an internationally-recognized class of quality businesses. You can know you’re in good company. Your potential customers will know it, too.
Our Approach to ISO 9001 Certification
CertFast brings ISO 9001 expertise and hands-on small business knowledge to the ISO 9001 certification process. Our streamlined method helps you save time and money. We don’t want to make the audit a distraction from your pursuit of quality. Your audit should be able to help you achieve new heights.
Your ISO audit doesn’t need to be something you dread. Contact us today for a hassle-free quote.