The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) drafts and floats best practices or standards for various sectors with the aim to help businesses streamline their processes, ensure customer satisfaction and boost profitability. There are more than 22,600 ISO standards suitable for different industries. ISO 9001 certification is one of them. Several organizations around the world go for this certification to enhance their performance and benefit in various other ways.
In this article, we shall learn the various benefits of ISO 9001 certification. By the time you finish reading this article, you will also have a clear idea about how to apply for ISO 9001 certification in Chennai and how to increase your odds of clearing the certification. So, let’s get started.
The Benefits of ISO 9001 Certification
Why do companies go for ISO 9001 certification? Should you go for this certification? How will it benefit your business? Should only big businesses go for it or it is suitable for small businesses as well? Is the certification specific to a particular industry? Well, as a business owner you will have a number of questions in your mind if you are planning to go for ISO certification. Here, we have answered all these questions to help you understand why every big and small business should undergo this certification. The many benefits of ISO 9001 certification are as follows:
Focuses on Customer Satisfaction
Customer satisfaction should be the main motto of every business owner. After all, happy and satisfied customers help establish a good will in the market, boost sales and increase profitability. ISO 9001 focuses on customer satisfaction. It encourages businesses to devise strategies for ensuring customer satisfaction. ISO 9001 standard suggests continual tracking of customer satisfaction and addressing their issues at the earliest. Such practices make the customers stick around. Organizations do not have to work hard to retain customers when they adopt the practices suggested by the international organization. In addition to this, acquiring new customers also becomes easy because of the goodwill.
Creates Clear and Attainable Goals
In order to grow your business you must define clear long term as well as short term goals that are competitive yet attainable. This certification focuses on assessing the scope of your business by identifying the customer segments you should focus most on and how they can benefit your business. With this understanding you can recognize new business opportunities and define clear goals.
Improvises Business Processes and Procedures
ISO 9001 certification aims at streamlining your business processes and procedures to enhance performance. This is done by identifying the loopholes in the processes, getting to their root and improvising to strengthen them. ISO consultants in Pune have helped several businesses qualify in the certification by revising their business processes and procedures as per ISO standards.
Reduces Wastage
It works towards putting all the available resources to optimal use. This holds true for the raw material, machinery as well as manpower. The aim is to make the most of all the resources and reduce wastage. This approach does not only help the businesses but is also a great step towards creating a better environment. ISO guidelines provide effective tips to work in this direction.
Creates a Wider Reach
ISO 9001 certification helps you establish a wider reach. The guidelines are set as per international standards thereby giving you a chance to enter the global market. Moreover, there are many organizations that collaborate with only those businesses that are ISO certified which means undergoing this certification opens a host of new opportunities for you. In addition to this, ISO 9001 standard helps meet essential statutory and regulatory requirements.
Reduces Risk and Increases Risk Handling Capacity
Incorporating these guidelines helps identify the risk factors well within time. It helps create strategies to address them and reduce the risk involved. The risk handling capacity of businesses also increases.
Boosts Employee Satisfaction and Productivity
By streamlining the processes, defining clear objectives and improving business procedures, ISO 9001 helps build a better work environment where employees can work efficiently. They are able to focus and perform better. Moreover, the organizations are encouraged to pay close attention to their issues and address them timely. This increases employee satisfaction.
Enhances Problem Solving Capacity
Businesses become better equipped to deal with unexpected issues by following ISO practices. The problem solving ability of both management as well as employees increases.
Enables Performance Measurement
ISO 9001 sets measurable goals that help assess employee performance. This gives a clear picture about how the employees are performing on different parameters and where they lack. Businesses can then take measures to help them perform better and attain the goals.
How to Clear ISO Certification in Pune?
Now that you know the many benefits of ISO 9001 certification, you may want to undergo it. While it offers several benefits, it requires you to follow a number of business practices. Businesses need to follow stringent rules and regulations set to clear the ISO 9001 certification. A step by step approach comes handy in this direction. The first step in the process is resource allocation. Businesses planning to get an ISO 9001 certification should start with appropriate allocation of resources. ISO gives high weightage to resource allocation. Thus, this is a crucial step in the process. Next, businesses require carrying out gap analysis. This means they need to compare their existing policies and processes with ISO standard to understand the gap. Once they know where they lack they can work on bridging it to reach closer to their goal of attaining the certification.
After the resources have been allocated and the processes have been set as per ISO standard, the businesses should conduct internal audits to assess how well prepared the management and staff members are to handle the ISO audit. Such internal audits prepare them for the final audit. They feel more confident as they become better equipped to tackle the questions put across by the auditors. Undergoing an ISO 9001 course can help you further. The formal training prepares you to handle the audit efficiently and increases the chances of qualifying the same.
Auditor Plays a Pivotal Role
The auditor you select for the ISO audit can also help you with the task. He assesses all the processes to see whether you have done your homework properly and made the required changes to match them with ISO 9001 standard. Next, he helps you fill the gaps in your procedures to match them as per the quality standards set by the international organization. There are several professionals working as ISO auditors. You must conduct an extensive research to find an accredited auditor who carries adequate experience in the field and is proficient with the work. Assigning this work to a novice can ruin your chances of getting through. Thus, you should choose wisely. With some research online you should be able to find one.
After your auditor gives a green signal, you will get ISO certification which will be valid for three years. You require maintaining ISO standards in order to renew it further. Stringent audit will be conducted by the auditor before renewing it.
Do You Require Professional Guidance to Clear ISO 9001 Certification?
Many organizations try to carry out all the steps involved in the process on their own but most of them fail and only end up wasting their time. The information about ISO 9001 practices and the steps to undergo the certification are all available online. However, these are not enough to carry out the certification process successfully. One needs to have thorough knowledge and experience in the field to qualify. This is why it is necessary to seek professional help. Only a reputed ISO consultant in Pune can help you accomplish the task. This is because professionals in this field have complete understanding about the ISO guidelines.
Hiring an experienced consultant may seem like an expensive affair, however it will save you a lot of time and effort and increase the odds of completing the certification. You should view it as an investment and not an expense. You are making this small investment to build a good reputation in the market and increase your company’s profitability.
Professional Guidance
We hope this gives you a clear idea about the benefits of undergoing ISO 9001 certification. The goal of this certification is to improve your business practices and processes, enhance customer satisfaction, create a healthy and happy environment for your employees, set attainable goals, reduce risk factors, increase the capacity to handle risks, enhance problem-solving ability, reduce wastage by putting the available resources to optimal use and set measurable goals. It takes a lot of preparation to get through and receive the certification. Professional help is essential to prepare for it and handle it successfully. We suggest you hire an experienced ISO consultant in Pune if you are planning to undergo this certification. He will guide you through the process and increase your chances of getting through successfully. Do let us know if you require more information in this regard. We shall be glad to help you with it.