Working with ISO 9001:2015 certified companies in North America is important to customers who want to guarantee that they are working with a company that is focused on quality. This certification covers quality management systems, guaranteeing that a company follows a certain process in all their procedures. When you work with an ISO 9001:2015 certified company, you can expect a certain level of quality and standardization that is not necessarily assured in other businesses. Read on to learn more about how it works and understand why it’s important to Industrial Polishing Services, Inc.’s customers.
What is ISO 9001:2015 certification?
Most businesses, depending on their industry, have certain standards to ensure consistent and well-made products. ISO 9001:2015 offers a framework for companies to create objectives and harness their processes and resources to achieve them. In other words, ISO 9001:2015 certification is not a pre-determined set of standards for a specific industry. Instead, it is a flexible certification that declares a company’s quality management systems meet the ISO standards. It is a voluntary certification, so when a company achieves ISO certification, customers can be assured that they went the extra mile to assure quality standards.
ISO 9001:2015 certification is the most recent set of quality management system standards (the previous version is 9001:2008). After 2018, anyone who had 9001:2008 certification lost their certification unless they were recertified under the new standards.
The goal of ISO certification is to help build an international standardization framework for different industries, help ensure efficient operations, and consistently improve how they do business. Businesses that adopt ISO-certified standards and fulfill them often find themselves with better, more streamlined, and consistent processes as well as improved quality performance.
How do you achieve certification?
The ISO itself does not hand out certifications—instead, a company will work with a third-party accredited assessment organization. When they go through the process, they will be judged on whether they meet the ISO guidelines, if they fulfill their own company requirements, how well they meet customer requirements and industry standards and whether they maintain the appropriate documentation. This could look quite different for a metal finishing company versus a food processing facility.
At the heart of ISO 9001:2015 standardization is “the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle,” which highlights “risk-based thinking, leadership participation, unified structure and clarified documentation requirements.” The goal is to create a “cycle of continuous improvement,” which is helped along by active participation in quality management processes, standardization, documentation and more.
To ensure that a company can meet these standards, there are ISO 9001:2015 training courses available. These help businesses create or update their quality management systems, from specific business practices to industry standards and employee performance. The certification process itself requires registration, company surveillance and recertification when new standards are issued.
In other words, if a business goes to the trouble of seeking out ISO 9001:2015 certification, you can rest assured that they’re committed to having in place a world-class quality management systems that will help best meet their customers’ needs.
Industrial Polishing Services, Inc. is an ISO 9001:2015 certified metal finishing company serving clients throughout North America from its home base in Southern California. We recently passed our recertification review to maintain this ISO 9001:2015 Certification. This continues our longstanding commitment to quality having had ISO Certification for over 15 years now and having been one of the first metal finishing companies to obtain this Certification. For more information, visit our website.