ISO & Management System Certification

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julymanagement



The primary aim of the Quality Management System certification is to ensure consistent quality product and customer satisfaction simultaneously to fulfill the statutory and regulatory requirements with respect to the products and services ISO (International Organization for Standardization) is a nongovernmental organization whose main functions are to formulate, revise, adopt and update various standards. These standards may be applicable for all the member countries of the world. Its head office is in Geneva, Switzerland and around 165 countries are its members. Nepal Bureau of Standards & Metrology represents the membership of ISO from Nepal. ISO has formulated more than 24,000 standards which include basic standards, product standards, test method standards and management system standards.
 

ISO Management

 

In the management field, ISO has formulated Quality Management System standards (ISO9000 series), Environmental Management System standards (ISO14001-2004), Food Safety Management System standards (ISO22000: 2005) etc. ISO does not do any job with respect to certification and such activities are carried out by different certification bodies. These certification bodies are accredited from accreditation bodies. One certification body may have the accreditation from one or more accreditation bodies. There is one accreditation body named NABCB in India. There are hundreds of certification bodies under the umbrella of one accreditation body and these bodies are responsible to their accreditation bodies.


If any weaknesses are found on the part of certification bodies while awarding management system certificates like ISO9001-2008, the respective accreditation bodies take action against those certification bodies. The licence of certification bodies can even be cancelled from accreditation bodies in case of severe failure. The ISO does not have anything to do with this. These accreditation bodies are under the umbrella of International Accreditation Forum (IAF) that conforms to the guidelines developed by the ISO. Series of Quality Management System standards i.e. ISO9000 series was formulated by the ISO for the first time in 1987 with ISO9000, ISO9001, ISO9002, ISO9003, and ISO9004 with many others in this series. In this series, the certifiable standards were ISO9001, ISO9002 and ISO9003.This series was revised first in 1994 with little amendments, second time in 2000 with the remarkable revision by merging all three certifiable standards in one i.e. ISO9001-2000. The structure and some of the requirements have been changed and added during this time. There is no provision of ISO9002 and ISO9003 after this period. The third revision was made in 2008 with some revision including the control of outsourced process. The ISO 9001-2008 minutely looks at whether consistent quality products are produced and the overall management system of the organisation are met at the highest degree during organisational operation. Those companies meeting the requirements are awarded with the ISO 9001:2008 certificate by the certification bodies.


The primary aim of the Quality Management System certification is to ensure consistent quality product and customer satisfaction simultaneously to fulfill the statutory and regulatory requirements with respect to the products and services. The requirements of consumers are taken as the input and the organisation adds values to the requirement through different processes that eventually produces a product that has the capacity to satisfy customers. Quality Management System Requirement i.e. ISO9001- 2008 certification is not a medal of honour. However, it gives organisations the potential to become more cost effective and efficient. Similarly, it arms organisations with a powerful competitive tool that helps ensure consistent quality products and enhancement of customer satisfaction.


A company with well maintained and qualitative managerial practices is expected to produce quality goods and services. The ultimate goal of the certification is to ensure consistent quality products used or consumed by consumers that lead to ultimate customer satisfaction. The company may be certified for its Quality Management System, Environmental Management System, Food Safety Management System (in case of food industry only), Information Security Management System or any other management system standards developed by the ISO. Among these standards, Quality Management System Standard i.e. ISO9001-2008 is the most popular all over the world. It is a generic standard and is applicable to all types of organizations regardless of their size, nature of product and processes. Till the end of 2011, almost 1.2 million companies have been certified with ISO9001-2008 and almost 250,000 companies with ISO14001-2004 around the globe. In the context of Nepal, approximately 600 organizations have been certified with ISO9001-2008, 30 with ISO 14001-2004, 15 with ISO 22000-2005, and a very little number with Occupational Health and Safety Management System, Social Accountability.


There is no organization in Nepal that maintains data on the number of ISO management system standard certified companies in the country. The validity of the certificate is three years and there is surveillance audit every 9-12 months. In our context, some companies are missing the surveillance audit and in worst cases, a few are publishing advertisements even after the expiry of the certificate. So, the above mentioned number is only an approximation. Among them, a handful of companies have not renewed their standard certificates.


If a company is found misusing the expired certificate, the certification body may take legal actions upon receiving complaints. There is no legal authority in the country to look after these complaints even if some certified organization or certification bodies are indulging in malpractices. Monitoring is sorely missing in Nepal. There have been cases of awarding ISO management system certificates in the bordering areas where the certificate was given to those companies that do not comply with many of the requirements. In India, the accreditation body NABCB has brought a good change in this field by taking action against certification bodies whose performance is very poor.


It is the need of the time to establish one accreditation board in Nepal which can look after all types of Management System Certification bodies including laboratories accreditation. Around a decade ago, Nepali companies had to rely upon consultancies from India and third countries. However, some certification bodies have established their branches in Nepal at present while some others are operating directly in the country. The benefits of having the branches set up in Nepal are numerous on the part of revenue collection for the government and easy flow of information to stakeholders.


In conclusion, the management system certifications have brought positive improvements in many organizations even during adverse conditions such as political instability, power shortage, labour unrest etc although there is a lot of space for improvement in the consulting, certification and regulatory parts from the government side.


Bhandari is the Director of Quality and Environment Management Services Pvt Ltd and ISO 9001:2008 certified auditor. He can be reached via email at bhandaripomraj@ yahoo.com


 

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