ISO 9000 Family of Standards

ISO 9001 is a part of the ISO 9000 family that encompasses a series of standards for
quality management systems that help organizations ensure customer satisfaction with
excellent quality of their offerings as per the statutory and regulatory requirements. The
key role of ISO 9000 is to manage and consistently improve the fundamentals of quality
management systems in an organization.

What is ISO 9001?

ISO 9001 is the international standard of Quality Management System that enables
businesses to upgrade the quality of products and services with a structured approach
and strategic method. The ISO 9001 standard enables an organization to not only
maintain the quality standards but also ensure continual improvement.

The three pillars of the ISO 9001 Standard are –

 Customer Satisfaction
 Management Responsibility
 Continual Improvements

Why is ISO 9001 important for your organization?

In today’s customer-centric market, it is essential for businesses to enhance customer

experience for any business to grow and thrive. Therefore, to successfully ensure
customer satisfaction, businesses must ensure the best quality of their offerings
including products and services. Since ISO 9001 Standard is a globally recognized
certification, it instills trust in the stakeholders, clients and vendors for practicing
standard processes and helps in becoming regulatory compliant.

ISO 9001 standard provides a strategic framework that is flexible and a disciplined
approach for quality management and maintenance. In addition, it allows organizations
to define their own targets and quality goals and provides a proven method to achieve
them. ISO 9001:2015, the latest standard of quality management system
implementation is also compatible with ISO 14001:2015. As a result, you can implement
multiple standards with minimum documentation and eliminate the repetitive efforts. It
is applicable to the processes for design, manufacturing and supply of products as well as
services.
Who can get ISO 9001 Standard Implementation?

There are over One Million companies and organizations in over 170 countries that are
certified to ISO 9001. (Source) ISO 9001:2015 can be implemented by any organization
irrespective of their size and industry. Companies and organizations implement the
standard to not only enhance quality but also define their standards of quality
compliance. Following are some of the businesses that can highly benefit from the ISO
9001 standard implementation.

 Manufacturing Companies
 Trading and distribution companies
 Service companies such as IT, Retail, Education, Facility Services, etc.
 Government, Semi-Government, Private and Public Organizations

What are the ISO 9001 Standard Requirements?

In order to implement ISO 9001:2015, an organization must fulfil standard requirements

to avail the maximum benefits and certification. The general requirements and
documentation requirements are listed below.

General Requirements

 Identify the objective and processes

 Identify sequence and process implementation
 Determine the criteria and methods for effective operational control over the
processes
 Monitor, measure and analyse the implementation processes
 Plan actions to ensure planned results and achieve targeted goals
 Achieve continual improvement of the processes

Documentation Requirements

 Determine and document the objective and process

 Prepare a quality manual
 Prepare management system procedure as per the international standard
 Work instructions and records for effective planning, operations and control of the
processes
What are the benefits of ISO 9001:2015 Implementation?

With ISO 9001:2015 implementation, you can ensure that your company is not only
regulatory compliant but also customer-focused and committed to providing high-quality
products and services. The standard implementation enables you to streamline the
operational processes, reduce risks and errors, save time and also increase employee
morale with higher revenues and customer retention.

 Meet and exceed the expected or determined quality goals

 Enhance customer experience with high-quality products and services
 Enable your vendor to make a sound choice
 Reduce operational costs and save time
 Gain trust from stakeholders, vendors and customers
 Become statutory and regulatory compliant
 Improve risk management practices
 Get international recognition and credibility
 Measure and monitor quality performance with strategic planning
 Improve internal and external communication
 Improve consistency and traceability

How to Get ISO 9001:2015 Certification?

The ISO 9001:2015 helps you achieve your quality targets. Usually, the certification
process takes a few to several months depending upon the scope of your quality
requirements. If you have internal audits performed each year for quality check, it may
help you quicken the process of identifying objectives, defining targets and determining
processes. With professional certification bodies and consulting and training teams, you
can smoothly acquire ISO 9001:2015 certification along with quality results.

The certification process is divided into three basic steps.

The certification process consists of 3 basic phases –

1) Elaboration of documentation

2) Putting QMS into practice

3) Certification by an accredited certification body

The ISO 9001: 2015 implementation and certification fosters continual improvement of
quality management system in your organization that helps you to not only enhance
your customer experience but also stay ahead of the curve.

How can we help you implement ISO 9001:2015 and get certification?

4C Consulting team contains highly qualified, experienced and competent ISO 9001

consultants and auditors that are IRCA Certified and has 15+ years of experience. With
2000+ QMS implementation in the 15+ industries, we have empowered our clients to
exceed quality expectations and ensure sustainable growth. To successfully and
efficiently implement ISO 9001:2015, we utilize various proven quality tools such as
lean. Having worked with more than 50 international and national certification bodies,
we have gained expertise and knowledge that can help you empower your business. For
ISO 9001:2015 consulting, training or enquiry, contact us now.