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1. Increased Efficiency
Companies that go through the ISO 9001:2008 Quality Management
Standards certification process have given a lot of thought
to their processes and how to maximize quality and efficiency.
Once certified for QMS, the processes are established
and guidelines in place for anyone to follow easily, making
training, transitions, and trouble-shooting easier.
2. Increased Revenue
Studies have shown that ISO QMS certified companies experience
increased productivity and improved financial performance,
compared to uncertified companies.
3. Employee Morale
Defined roles and responsibilities, accountability of
management, established training systems and a clear picture
of how their roles affect quality and the overall success
of the company, all contribute to more satisfied and motivated
staff.
4. International Recognition
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO)
is recognized worldwide as the authority on quality management.
5. Factual Approach to Decision
Making
The ISO 9001:2000 QMS standard sets out clear instructions
for audits and process reviews that facilitate information
gathering and decision making based on the data.
6. Supplier Relationships
Mutually beneficial supplier relationships are one of
the key attractions to ISO certification. Following the
processes for documentation and testing ensure quality
raw materials go into your production system. The process
also requires thorough evaluation of new suppliers before
a change is made and/or consistency with respect to how
and where orders are placed.
7. Documentation
The ISO QMS standard requires documentation of all processes
and any changes, errors and discrepancies. This ensures
consistency throughout production and accountability of
all staff. This also guarantees traceable records are
available in case of non-compliant products or raw materials.
8. Consistency
One of the foundations of ISO; All processes from research
and development, to production, to shipping, are defined,
outlined and documented, minimizing room for error. Even
the process of making changes to a process is documented,
ensuring that changes are well planned and implemented
in the best possible way to maximize efficiency.
9. Customer Satifaction
Client confidence is gained because of the universal acceptance
of the ISO standards. Customer satisfaction is ensured
because of the benefits of ISO 9001:2008 QMS to company
efficiency, consistency and dedication to quality service.
10. Improvement Processes
The ISO 9001:2008 QMS outlines audit processes, management
review and improvement processes based on collected data.
Improvements are carefully planned and implemented based
on facts, using a system of documentation and analysis,
to ensure the best decisions are made for your company.
BENEFITS OF ISO 14001:2004
1. Identification of gaps in emergency and accident response
preparedness;
2. Recognized logic of considering external benefits
and costs avoided when making cost/benefit analyses and
decisions;
3. Upgraded Process Safety Management programs when it
was determined that the process being managed was also
a significant environmental aspect;
4. Recognized the existence of a high heart attack risk
exposure due to aging, mostly male workforce;
5. Recognized need for a Safety Manager;
6. Need to have an emergency response plan that contemplates
egress for handicapped personnel;
7. Recognition of a fire risk exposure that threatened the
entire facility and could be easily eliminated; Enhanced
working relationships with suppliers by convening a meeting
with over 50 suppliers to jointly study the issue of excess
packaging;
8. Gained leverage in negotiating a consent agreement
with a state environmental agency;
9. Turned environmental commitments into a marketing plus;
BENEFITS OF OHSAS 18001:
2007
Ensure organisation's concern on safety of employees
and other affected individuals.
Gives improvement in company's image and attract most
qualified personnels, best suppliers, good customers and
other interested parties.
Provides a system for continually identifying legal and
other requirements.
Provides a structured approach to risk assessment within
the organsiation.
Reduces accidents and occupational ill health.
Reduces stress and greater productivity.
Increases employee moral.
Employees feel responsibility towards goals set by organisation
A reduction in likelihood of paying legal costs and compensation.
Most parts of legal compliance audits by customers are
covered (In case of export oriented units)
To demonstrate organization commitment that will lead
to sustainable development, continual improvement and
the new challenges posed by globalization
BENEFITS OF ISO 22000:2005
Embed and improve the internal processes needed to provide
consistently safe food
Provide confidence to the organization and the management
team that the organization's practices and procedures
are in place and that they are effective and robust
Provide confidence to customers and other stakeholders
(through the ISO 22000 certification process) that the
organization has the ability to control food safety hazards
and provide safe products
Provide a means of continual improvement that ensures
that the food safety management system is reviewed and
updated so that all activities related to food safety
are continually optimized and effective
Ensure adequate control at all stages of the food supply
chain to prevent the introduction of food safety hazards
Food-safety management systems function only when the
interdependent methods between food producers, suppliers,
and customers are understood and managed. This includes
a clear understanding of responsibility and provisions
for accountability at all levels. This can only be done
in light of a structured management system such as one
conforming with ISO 22000.
Largely preventive
ISO 22000 follows a long tradition of preventive actions,
identified and regulated by quality and food safety professionals.
Three brief ISO 22000 concepts imported from ISO 9001
are planning (i.e., things work better when there is a
plan and the plan is followed and enforced), procedures
(i.e., consistency for extended time periods, especially
when multiple people are involved), and employee competence
(i.e., the use of competent personnel is necessary to
achieve required results).
Other concepts include document control, control of records,
corrective action, measurement, and many others too numerous
to mention in this article. Approximately half of the
pages of ISO 22000 closely follow or are identical to
the text in ISO 9001.
ISO 22000 dedicates substantial effort to defining requirements
specific to food safety management. These requirements
can be divided into two broad themes:
o Methods and practices related to planning and realization
of safe foods
o Methods and practices for validation, verification,
and improvement of the food safety management system
Food safety requirements
Because much of HACCP was included in ISO 22000, it's important
to understand a little bit of what HACCP is. HACCP could
be defined as the system used to formally identify, evaluate,
and control hazards that are significant to food safety.
HACCP activities require 12 very logical and straightforward
steps:
1. Assemble the HACCP team that will ensure that the HACCP
plan is properly completed and implemented.
2. Describe the product associated with the specific HACCP
plan; organizations that produce multiple products may have
several HACCP plans.
3. Identify the intended use of the product.
4. Construct flow diagrams showing the flow and steps associated
with the product and process steps.
5. Confirm the flow diagram by direct investigation or observation,
list all potential hazards associated with the flow, and
conduct a hazard analysis to determine which hazards need
to be controlled.
6. Identify and consider control measures that can be undertaken
to prevent the hazard.
7. Determine the critical control points where controls
will be put in place to ensure food safety.
8. Establish critical limits for each critical control point
where acceptable levels are clearly defined.
9. Establish a monitoring system for each critical control
point.
10. Establish corrective actions to be taken when critical
limits have been exceeded.
11. Establish verification procedures to monitor results.
12. Establish documentation and record keeping to provide
evidence of control.
One of the differences between HACCP and ISO 22000 is the
ISO standard's emphasis of the use of prerequisite programs
(PRPs). PRPs are generic controls used by any food business
operation to maintain hygienic conditions in the processing
environment. PRPs stipulate the preconditions necessary
for producing safe food. Depending on the type of activity
involved, the following defined requirements should be considered:
Good Agricultural Practice (GAP)
Good Hygienic Practice (GHP)
Good Production Practice (GPP)
Good Distribution Practice (GDP)
Additional components of prerequisite programs include,
for example, cleaning and sanitizing; pest control; personnel
hygiene; construction and layout of buildings and associated
utilities; supplies of air, water, energy, and other utilities;
supporting services such as waste and sewage disposal; supplier
control; employee training; and more.
Rationale for adoption of ISO 22000
Organizations should consider adoption of ISO 22000 for
three principle reasons:
Benefits in the marketplace.
Customers receive confidence through the demonstrated
implementation and ongoing maintenance of the system.
As organizations along the supply chain adopt ISO 22000
or become subject to customer controls along the food
supply chain, the market achieves assurance that there
are no weak links in the food chain.
Benefits to the organization
producing the food.
The organization has confidence that it has done
the right things to provide control over activities that
affect food safety. The system is well-planned, monitored,
audited (internally and externally), and measured, and
feedback is provided in a timely manner to decision makers.
ISO 22000 goes well beyond
regulatory requirements.
ISO 22000 includes--but goes beyond--existing HACCP programs.
HACCP programs are excellent and work very well to prevent
food safety problems, but they are not supported by an
overarching systematic approach that includes many of
the components extracted from ISO 9001.
What potential users should know about ISO 22000
ISO 22000 works for all organizations regardless of their
size. The standard outlines best practices that deliver
results and convey confidence to the organization as well
as its stakeholders. This confidence is demonstrated by
the internal audit process and, in particular, the external
audit process through ISO 22000 registration.
Failures in food safety practices are dangerous and expensive.
It is obviously easier, less dangerous, and less expensive
to prevent these problems before they occur.
ISO 22000 harmonizes various industry and national standards
for food safety. Increasing requirements from customers
and other stakeholders within the food chain demand increased
rigor and demonstrated results. There is an increasing need
to provide evidence of conformance to an internationally
accepted and approved set of requirements.
If your organization participates in any part of the
food industry, you will likely want to consider learning
more about ISO 22000. A brief list of organizations that
may need to consider ISO 22000 may include:
Food manufacturers
Producers of food ingredients
Agricultural producers
Transporters of raw or finished food products
Storage facilities for raw or finished food products
Packers
Subcontractors within the food chain
Retailers
Wholesalers
Producers of animal feed
Food equipment manufacturers
Food packaging manufacturers
Tips
For a successful implementation of ISO 22000 you will need
to create a clear project plan including the identification
of responsibilities, tasks, and an associated timeline.
Wherever possible, make use of what you are currently doing
related to quality or food safety. It doesn't make sense
to change something that's working.
You will need to communicate the purpose and benefits of
ISO 22000 to employees. Be prepared to overcome the arguments,
which are the same arguments encountered by any standards
implementation: There's too much paper, there's too much
complexity, it's not appropriate for a small business, and/or
the bar is set too high for the organization.
Educate people on the technical aspects of ISO 22000 (i.e.,
auditing, creation of effective documents, food safety specific
tasks, biological contamination, etc.).
The future
ISO 22000 is currently undergoing review and approval
by the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI). Acceptance
by GFSI will energize acceptance and usage of ISO 22000
worldwide.
All ISO standards are reviewed and amended as needed on
a five-year cycle. The revision process for ISO 22000
will begin in the next few months.
ISO 22000 overlaps and works well in conjunction with
existing HACCP and ISO 9001 initiatives. Expect future
revisions to increase the links between these documents
as well as future revisions of other standards: environmental
management, risk management, security management, and
others.
BENEFITS OF ISO 27001:2005
The benefits of standardization, and of implementation
of one or more of the ISO 27000 series are wide and varied.
Although they tend to differ from organization to organization,
many are common.
The following is a list of potential benefits. As with
many items on this website, this is an ongoing project.
Please feel free to add further points via the comments
option below.
Interoperability
This is a general benefit of standardization. The idea
is that systems from diverse parties are more likely to
fit together if they follow a common guideline.
Assurance
Management can be assured of the quality of a system,
business unit, or other entity, if a recognized framework
or approach is followed.
Due Diligence
Compliance with, or certification against, and international
standard is often used by management to demonstrate due
diligence.
Bench Marking
Organizations often use a standard as a measure of their
status within their peer community. It can be used as
a bench mark for current position and progress.
Awareness
Implementation of a standard such as ISO 27001 can often
result in greater security awareness within an organization.
Alignment
Because implementation of ISO 27001 (and the other ISO
27000 standards) tends to involve both business management
and technical staff, greater IT and Business alignment
often results.
BENEFITS OF ISO 13485:2003
ISO 13485 also incorporates many of the quality management
principles and delivers the benefits of an ISO 9001 based
quality management system including:
1. Expanded market access
gives you:
You will be able to work within many countries where ISO
13485 is a regulatory requirement and with many organizations
where it is a contractual obligation or expectation.
Your company will be able to win more business opportunities
- particularly where procurement specifications require
certification as a condition to supply in a highly regulated
sector.
The certification serves as a proven credential as it
is an independent verification against recognized standards.
ISO 13485 is globally recognized as the "best quality
practices" from organizations within the medical
device industry.
This is quality system which satisfies the rigors of an
independent, external audit and lays stress on additional
safety, regulatory, and quality concerns specific to the
medical device industry.
This certification helps to create a systematic procedure
using which the organizations monitor, measure, and analyze
their processes and customer feedback.
This certification gives you a Shorter Sales Cycle - less
time is needed to earn your prospective customers' trust
and confidence.
2. Overall performance
improvement:
Once you are certified QMS, it helps you to improve your
products and processes. This certification is based on
a uniform and widely accepted system of process control
that gives you:
ISO 13485 certification means higher customer satisfaction
.The delivery of products that consistently meet customer
requirements as well as quality, safety and legal requirements
satisfies the customer.
Striking improvement is noticed in stakeholder relationships
- including staff, customers, and suppliers.
ISO 13485 helps you to understand how statutory and regulatory
requirements impact an organization and its customers.
Thus it helps in legal compliance.
Certification like ISO 13485 enhances the image of the
company in the eyes of customers, employees, and shareholders
and all.
You need this certification to provide improved performance
in areas such as increasing sales, timeliness in getting
products to the global marketplace, reducing costs, decreasing
number of errors, lessening wastage, better utilization
of time and resources, and lowering product failures.
Helps in improved risk management - this is done through
greater consistency and traceability of products and using
risk management techniques.
ISO 13485 is a framework for implementation of actions
(where necessary) which ensures achievement of planned
result and maintaining effectiveness of those processes
which are applicable to customer, quality and regulatory
requirements.
An ISO 13485 certification means ability of your organization
to do business in the highly regulated sectors. It demonstrates
your organization's commitment to quality, customers,
and your willingness to work towards improving efficiency.
BENEFITS OF ISO/TS 16949:
2009
"The Improvement
Standard"
With ISO 9001:2000 as the basic quality management system,
organizations achieving certification to ISO/TS 16949
receive dual benefits. First, they benefit from the process
approach, with emphasis on continuous improvement. This
means that the organization knows, understands, and practices
a philosophy that is committed to quality in all actions,
never settles for "good enough" and understands
the dynamics and interactions that exist between the various
processes that make up the quality management system.
Secondly, the added requirements of ISO/TS 16949, although
prescriptive in nature, are based on proven techniques
that further enhance an organization's ability to achieve
high quality levels in the challenging automotive sector.
ISO/TS 16949 certification
offers the following benefits:
Improved product and process quality.
Improved on-time delivery.
Greater emphasis on supplier quality improvement efforts.
ISO/TS 16949 satisfies automotive mandates of IATF members
on a global basis, when complemented by fulfillment of
customer-specific requirements
Eliminates the need for multiple third-party registrations
on a geographic basis
Enables firms to upgrade from QS-9000, VDA 6.1, etc. during
regularly scheduled surveillance audits, provided the
registrar is IATF-approved for ISO/TS 16949.
Promises more consistent auditing performance. Auditors
of recognized ISO/TS 16949 registrars must undergo extensive
training, testing and re-qualification to meet rigorous
qualification requirements.
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