They are a series of international frameworks that help your business run effectively in compliance with the laws of the land and international laws, the standards you adhere to give your business organisational credibility and international standard recognitions. ISO certification is for a small and large business that would like to bid on mega projects and tenders opened by corporate organisations and government institutions, whereby after meeting the ISO certification requirements becomes your first eligibility to win a tender award. There are many types of ISO certifications designed for businesses, organisations, and companies to ensure their services, products, and processes that conform to the acceptable code of standards internationally.
In simple terms, ISO ensures that businesses and organisations run their business activities using acceptable international standards to offer products and services using accepted processes. These standards may include business management practices, environmental conservation laws, and policies tailored to meet a certain business sector.
ISO standards
ISO has since published more than 22000 standards for goods and services using acceptable processes. The most common standard is the 9000 ISO family of standards which was meant to ensure products and services use certified processes that meet quality standards and are always updated and improved to meet the ever-changing business environment and modes of operation.
ISO 9001:2015
These standards are the current standards used by any business as of 2015, and it contains eight business principles which include:
- Customer focus
- Leadership
- People involvement
- Process approach
- System approach management
- Continual improvement
- The factual approach to decision making
- Mutually beneficial supplier relationships
Common specific sectors ISO standards
- ISO 13485 is a standard for services related to the medical field
- ISO/TS 29001 standards related to oil and gas industries
- ISO/IEC 9003 standards related to software engineering
- ISO 17582 standards meant for government electoral processes
- ISO 18091 standards governing local government authorities
How to obtain ISO certification
You might not get certification from ISO itself, but you may contact third party agents to audit your business or organisation to determine whether your processes, services, and products fulfill ISO criterion for certification. One such company is Atlas ISO Certifications. Most companies and organisations get ISO 9001 certification because it forms the basis of most ISO standards. The certification process often takes more than one year, but it still depends on the size of the company in question. The third-party organisation providing ISO certifications to companies and organizations have standards themselves they should adhere to developed by CASCO or ISO’s COCA.
Advantages of ISO certification
The certification of small business comes with splendid benefits to the owners of the business.
From a general point of view, the businesses certified by ISO tend to be more efficient, more productive and earns an edge over their competitors. The following are some of the benefits associated with ISO certified businesses:
- Marketing benefits earned because customers are confident that your products and services are guaranteed and follows the quality standards
- All business processes and standards are evaluated and explained to your personnel.
- Training new personnel becomes easy for an ISO certified business
- Problems are easily detected and improvement implemented as soon as possible
- Your business is bound to enjoy improved customer satisfaction because of quality measures in place
- Your business will better understand its customer needs
- Your business will enjoy a better perception
- Communication within and outside the business will be improved
- Your employees will better understand the goals and objectives of your company
