Benefits of ISO 9001
ISO 9001 is one of the most sought-after, globally recognised certifications. It sets the standard for managing production, customer service, and competitiveness in a range of markets.
If you are a business owner who would like to build credibility for your company, you are in the right place. This article explores the many benefits of ISO 9001. We will explain what you can expect from the process if you want to become ISO 9001 certified, and how Compliant can support you.
What is ISO?
ISO, or the International Organisation for Standardisation, is an organised group that offers a standard global consensus that organisations must follow in exchange for receiving their certification. Their standard comprises sustainable and holistic regulations that will help an organisation maintain or improve its quality.
In this section, you will learn the basic principles of ISO 9001, detailed information on what it is and why organisations are investing in ISO 9001. We also discover all the benefits of 9001.
What is ISO 9001?
ISO 9001 is the international standard for quality. This standard sets out the criteria for a quality management system and is the only standard in the ISO 9000 family that can be certified to. ISO 9001 can be used by any organisation, large or small, regardless of its field of activity and there are over one million companies and organisations in over 170 countries certified.
ISO 9001 focuses on maintaining and strengthening the relationship between customers and company stakeholders by integrating their quality-focused framework. Their framework focuses on seven quality and practical management principles for providing goods and services. These seven principles are the following:
Customer focus
ISO 9001’s stringent framework ensures that you are delivering the highest quality goods and services for your customers.
Leadership
The approach of the management within the company towards their subordinates will make a difference in how employees will function. Having ISO 9001 will ensure rigorous processes and procedures, including room for feedback and improvements.
Engagement of people
Quality is primarily people-based, so people’s engagement within the company in and outside of it should have proper balance. Implementing this standard will guarantee better communication.
Process approach
Having ISO 9001 helps to stabilise or create a more effective process approach for organisations; with each activity being process driven and all activities and responsibilities effectively recorded.
Improvement
ISO 9001 monitors, records and delivers recommendations for the quality that companies must continuously follow to remain certificate owners.
Evidence-based decision making
Every organisation makes daily decisions. Whether small or life-changing, having ISO 9001 in place means that all decisions are noted, recorded and followed up with an action.
Relationship management
ISO 9001 also ensures that relationships, whether internally or externally, are working professionally, effectively, and peacefully.
Why is ISO 9001 used?
Organisations use ISO 9001 to establish more substantial company quality control. ISO 9001 does not order an organisation on what to do or how to do it, it outlines a flexible standard that offers practical recommendations. This freedom lets organisations adjust their objectives and rules based on what they think will be best for them while still following the guidelines.
As mentioned earlier, ISO 9001 is used to maintain a certain quality of management that will make an organisation’s goods and services better for customers. The seven principles of ISO 9001 help organisations plan out their current regulations and revise them regularly to lessen unnecessary costs in their business, improve employee performance, strengthen company relations and encourage customer loyalty and satisfaction.
However, since ISO asks for a standard among applying organisations, getting certification is not relatively easy without enough preparation. An organisation must comply with all the rules that the ISO 9001 Standard sets, which will prove that they can sustain changes while still maintaining consistent quality in their goods or services.
Compliant not only supports with preparation for ISO 9001 but also with ongoing updates, audits and surveillances. Our BSI trained, Lead Auditor is constantly reviewing and updating our management systems to ensure that clients are up to date and audit ready.
What are the benefits of ISO 9001?
As ISO 9001 aims to improve the quality of goods and services of its certified organisations, there are countless benefits. Having ISO 9001 in place is a great way to regulate your company’s revenue and employee performance.
In this section we highlight nine benefits for companies in becoming ISO 9001 certified:
Increase employee and workplace efficiency
The standard that ISO 9001 sets focuses on increasing work efficiency by giving employee-centered care and benefits that will motivate them to work more effectively.
Increase in sales
As ISO 9001 certification is a globally recognised standard, becoming certified is evidence that you give sufficient attention to the quality of your products and services. This effort will increase sales by showing customers your credibility.
Boost employee productivity and morale
Part of having a certification is gaining knowledge on how to take care of your employees as their feedback can be used to create a positive working environment and better customer relations.
Increase partnerships and collaborations
International trade is one of the best benefits that ISO 9001 offers. Having ISO 9001 in place means that your business is in a better position to work with other similar companies worldwide and the framework acts as evidence for tender submissions.
Fact-based decision-making
Facts should be the basis of decisions, especially when making significant changes to a company. Following a decision that is supported by factual evidence will make it easier for your organisation to predict possible outcomes after policy implementation.
Better external relationships
Since ISO 9001 assures quality management, starting, maintaining, and prolonging partnerships will be another benefit as stakeholders will have more trust in your company.
Improved company internal management
Company administration is usually in charge of collating and handling complaints filed by customers or fellow employees. Since ISO 9001 specialises in information management, your company will have a more organised approach to handling feedback.
Improved customer service relations
A feedback system is typically an effective way your organisation can grasp how customers think of your product or service. Once your organisation is ISO 9001 certified, you will have other alternative approaches to improve customer service relations to help you pinpoint areas to improve.
Continuous improvement
Similar to how ISO 9001 gives importance to customer service relations, you can expect to continuously grow as a company when under ISO 9001 as regular surveillances are carried out to ensure continuous improvement.
Why is ISO 9001 important to a company?
Now that we have explained the advantages of becoming ISO 9001 certified, you can see why many companies seek certification worldwide. Let’s now look at the relevancy of ISO 9001 for individual companies:
Reduces product return and complaints
Since ISO 9001 will help you detect possible problems regarding the quality of your services or products and management, you will have a more preventive approach to complaints. There will be fewer chances of getting product returns if you are taking quality control seriously and investing in processes to guarantee the highest quality.
Credible service
Your ISO 9001 certification is physical proof that you are a credible service provider because you take necessary measures to improve the quality of your management. As it is recognised as the top management system framework globally, all stakeholders will have the assurance that you are delivering the best product or service you can.
Opens more learning and innovative experiences
The supervision that comes with having an ISO 9001 certification opens more learning experiences for you as a business owner, employee, or stakeholder. ISO 9001 assists organisations in identifying needs, areas to improve on, strengths, and weaknesses that can make them more competitive in their field.
It also becomes a way for organisations to find innovative ways to stand out. As ISO 9001 gives immense importance to employee awareness, employees will be able to see where they need more help, how the company can help them, and how it can improve their service to customers.
Having ISO 9001 creates a more immersive learning experience for employees. The more employees are involved and see the transparency in the workplace, the greater possibility of them chipping in with suggestions and ideas that can support improvement.
Should I invest in ISO 9001?
In addition to the benefits highlighted above ISO 9001 can be used to market your products and services and to gain new customers. A certified company, especially a small enterprise, can enhance their reputation and tender for larger projects.
You can put that you are ISO 9001 certified on business cards, websites, flyers, and anything that has your organisation’s name on it. Compliant even supports collaborative PR about partners becoming certified, informing stakeholders, customers, staff and potential customers that they have a quality management system and are ISO 9001 certified.
We have found that new companies and SMEs can easily adapt to the standard. How the certification can be achieved depends not only on the leadership of the organisation but on the cooperation of the staff.
Check out our past article ‘5 easy steps showing how to get ISO 9001 certified’.
Are the benefits of ISO 9001 worth it?
ISO 9001 is the best quality management system worldwide at present. It comes with a framework that targets organisations that want to understand the areas for improvement in their business and to give better goods and services to the public. It aims for consistent growth and business networking worldwide to help certified companies increase their revenue.
However, if you want to have a balanced perspective on whether ISO 9001 is worth it, you must weigh its pros and cons for your organisation. To help you decide if it is worth it, we will give you some positive and negative considerations you can think of before going through the process.
Pros
As listed in this article, there are many benefits in becoming ISO 9001 certified. Another pro of becoming certified is a better understanding and collective goal orientation from the internal staff in the company
People make up a company, and if you are all in the same boat regarding goals, expectations, and responsibilities, it will make your lives easier. Having an ISO 9001 certificate will help employees to understand different innovative approaches to continuously check on the quality of processes and procedures and create a better awareness for reviewing colleague work.
Cons
Despite all the positive impacts and other relevant benefits that ISO 9001 offers, there are still reasons why other companies decide not to push through in becoming certified. For transparency, here are two of the most common reasons/myths why organisations do not go through with the ISO 9001 application process:
1. Certification takes a long time, effort, and process
This is one of the major myths about becoming certified. Here at Compliant our processes ensure a smooth and quick turnaround for clients. To become ISO 9001 certified we recommend 3-6 months, but can support clients in getting through certification quicker if they have some processes and documentation in place already.
Audit duration is another consideration. You may find out that some organisations have a shorter audit duration while others have a longer one. A previous article of ours highlights some factors considered each time you are estimating audit duration.
2. It may be more challenging to keep up with ISO 9001’s demand as a small business financially
This is where we come in. As an SME and having direct relationships with most of the certification bodies we can pass cost savings including preferential day rates directly onto clients.
Conclusion
ISO 9001 is worth it especially if your business is quickly growing and needs more credibility for its reputation. As brands build their businesses, more people will ask for proof of legitimacy, and one of the best pieces of evidence you can provide is your ISO 9001 certification. It improves your quality management system, but it also develops the sustainability of your organisation to possible threats in the future. Do you want to find out more about the benefits of ISO 9001?
Requesting a Quote
Compliant will go the extra step in an initial teams meeting to fully understand your business, its requirements, the structure of the management system required, and the organisational context. We will then submit all your information to one of our preferred certification body partners.
We successfully deliver ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 22301, ISO 27001 and can help businesses to access funding for their certifications. We offer flexible payment plans and can pass cost savings from certifications bodies directly onto our customers.
If you would like a FREE quotation just fill in our FREE quote calculator here.
Share
Recent Comments