The FINANCIAL — There are a growing number of companies in Georgia using ISO certified status for promoting their businesses. Every now and then journalists are being called to cover a story of the next locally operating company getting ISO certified. The FINANCIAL enquired in to what major principles and benefits the ISO name stands for beyond the apparent surface image making means.
“To obtain an ISO 9001:2000 certificate, an organization has to be audited by an independent certification body to confirm that its quality management system conforms to the requirements of the standard. The requirements are too numerous to list, but come under the general headings of management responsibility, resource management, product realization and measurement, analysis and improvement. The requirements are the same worldwide,” Roger Frost, Manager of Communications Services, ISO Central Secretariat, told The FINANCIAL.
ISO has a current portfolio of more than 17 000 international standards for products, services, materials, systems, processes, personnel, management and conformity assessment practice.
According to Frost, ISO is a network of the national standards bodies of 157 countries, including Georgia. These national bodies develop national standards of their own, and they can adopt ISO international standards as national standards. On the international level, the three main standardization organizations are ISO, the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
In addition, there are many international organizations that set standards in a particular domain of activity, e.g. the World Health Organization, the International Labour Organization. Also, there are industry associations that set standards in a particular business area, e.g. for the oil industry. However, the trend is for these associations to cooperate with ISO and help to develop international standards that are relevant to the industry sector concerned worldwide.
ISO standards are voluntary. There is no international body that decides who is eligible and who is not to develop standards. However, to develop standards that are recognized and implemented requires the participation of many countries and industry sectors, the recognition of industry and government and robust processes.
ISO 9001:2000 – the quality management certificate is the best spread one among the companies in Georgia.
“As for the ISO 9001:2000 standard for quality management systems, certification is not a requirement of the standard. Organizations can implement the standard for the benefits a quality management system brings in terms of increased efficiency and effectiveness without seeking to have that system certified by an independent auditor as conforming to the requirement of ISO 9001:2000,” declared Frost.
According to Frost, implementing a quality management system meeting the requirements of the standard can provide an organization with structured approach to: Meeting the customer's quality requirements, and applicable regulatory requirements, while aiming to enhance customer satisfaction, and achieve continual improvement of its performance in pursuit of these objectives.
Deciding to have an independent audit of the system to confirm that it conforms to ISO 9001:2000 is a decision to be taken on business grounds: for example: if it is a contractual or regulatory requirement, if it is a market requirement or to meet customer preferences, if it falls within the context of a risk management programme or if the organization thinks it will motivate staff by setting a clear goal for the development of its management system.
ISO is a federation of the national standards bodies of 157 countries. Its members are not government delegations, as in the case of the organizations that make up the United Nations system. Some of ISO's members are completely nongovernmental, being made up of industry associations. Others are government departments. Others are not part of the governmental structure of their countries, but do have a charter or mandate from government to perform standardization activities.
“This is why we say that ISO forms a bridge between public and private sectors because its membership comprises the whole range from governmental to nongovernmental bodies,” noted Frost.
In Frost’s words, ISO enables a consensus to be reached on solutions that meet both the requirements of business and the broader needs of society. The requirements will vary with the standards, but broadly speaking, we can say that the typical requirements of business related to industrial efficiency and to economic considerations, while societal considerations include safety, health, environment, and the special needs of consumers, children, and the disabled and old people. However, it is more and more true that today's progressive company also wants to be a good corporate citizen and must also pay attention to these societal needs.
“We don't have such a list of the organizations directly involved in giving out ISO certificates. ISO does not control the certification bodies, although it does develop conformity assessment standards related to the activities that encourage good practice and harmonization of practice between countries,” claimed Frost.
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