System Certification
System Certification Procedure
How long does it take to obtain a certificate?
The period taken to obtain a certificate varies from company to company. The time taken, depends on the company's size, the number of plant/employee, and the training level. The most important factor is the commitment and support of the Chief Executive Officer to gain certification.
As a rough guide it takes 12 months for a major company, and around 6 months for a small and medium-sized company to obtain its certificate. The assessment will focus on establishing appropriate systems and preparing documents during the first half (6 or 3 months). The second half (6 or 3 months) will focus on performance, adjustments and improving the systems activity.
How to start?
The company should establish the ISO objective and set out a practical plan to achieve the certification. As part of this process, the company must identify the resources of human/materials required and provide appropriate training to support the employees through the process.
Generally, a quality assurance team, which is in charge of certification, is formed with more than one person from the task force team, alongside the ISO certification committee, which will support the decision of the manager. To establish the ISO system efficiently until certification is gained, all employees should accept the certification as a key objective of the company, and following the direction of the CEO, provide the necessary support to ensure its success.
Certification Must-Read
Advice for a company preparing for certification
The CEO’s support is essential to gain certification. The new ISO management system should be based on the company’s existing management system, appropriate training should be given to all employees so that they are all aware of the objectives and requirements of the new ISO management system.
Those taking part in the training must clearly understand that the ISO management system will support their work. Procedures should be drafted to cover every task and process, these should be drafted by an employee ‘expert’ but then all employees should have the opportunity to review and comment on the draft. This process should be carried out following a project plan which lists those involved, the support needed, the format, timeline and deadline.
The process should be incentivized, for example with bonuses or commendations for those involved. Promote how the new ISO management system can enhance the outcome of both work and sales to employees. While the ISO management system encourages a better standard of work performance and continuously improves the direction of endeavor to satisfy the customer's requirements, it is wrong to expect the ISO certification to solve any quality problems.
