Sam Sweeney

IS0 9001 Accreditation Report

Table of contents

1: Terms of reference -

Page 3

2: Procedures

Page 4

3: Findings

Page 6

4: Conclusion

- Page 6

5: Recommendations

- Page 6

6: Bibliography

Page 6

Section 1: Terms of reference

The report has been requested by the Quality department of the Glasgow Clyde
college precision engineering department. The report will detail how to gain the ISO
9001 accreditation. It will detail how the company can gain the accreditation, the
benefits of doing so with reference to sources used to gather the information. The
report will be submitted by the deadline of the 23 rd of January 2015 and will be
completed by Sam Sweeney.

Section 2: Procedures
The following sources of information will be used to gather the facts to use in the
report:
Coleg ISO 9001 pack will be used to gain a general overview of the procedure and to
provide information on the steps to achieve it.
The following websites will be used to further expand on the information and provide
more up to date and current information.
http://www.imsm.com
http://www.iso.org/
http://www.bsigroup.co.uk
http://www.qualitysystems.com

Section 3: Findings
This section will detail the steps required for the company to achieve the ISO 9001
accreditation.

3.1 Preparing for assessment

It is advisable that the company looks to obtain the commitment and support of the
senior management in the process. As well as the management, the entire workforce
should be kept engaged through internal communications as well as informing
customers of the new improvement developments being performed. The company
should also look to implement as many of the procedures as possible prior to the
assessment and perform tasks such as assigning dedicated teams/sharing roles and
responsibilities, gaining customer/supplier feedback, training staff and sharing
knowledge, setting time-lines and regularly reviewing the systems performance.
These steps will make it easier to adapt to the changes required for the standard.

3.2 Choose a certification body

The ISO organization do not directly issue certifications for the standards only create
them, therefore the company applying must seek out a certification body who are in
compliance with the necessary CASCO standard. This company can then be used to
help fulfil the requirements of the standard and issue the certifications upon
completion.

3.3 Improving the Quality Management System

The company must create a quality management system and have it championed by
a suitably qualified member of senior management with the power to make decisions
on matters.
In the case that the company already has a QMS in place, then the existing system
must be brought to the standards defined by the ISO 9001 accreditation. In order to
aid with this process, it is possible to have a gap analysis check performed by the
certification body. Although an optional procedure, the gap analysis aids the
company by identifying areas of development before a more formal assessment is
carried out. This could have the benefit of saving time and money in the long run.

3.4 Documentation
The company should make sure that it is suitably keeping record of key tasks and
processes. A check-list of questions is available on the BSIgroup website which will
aid the company in assessing its current documentation standards. The processes to
be assessed are as follows: Quality Management Systems and documentation,
4

management responsibility, resource management, product realization, measuring

analysis and improvement. Some of these processes include identifying core
business processes and how they're controlled, creating quality policies and
objectives, control of documents and records, having a defined and documented
procedure for performing internal audits as well as many other tasks that must be
adequately documented.

3.5 Auditing The Management system

Internal audits must be performed by suitably trained auditors within the company.
These people may be employed by the company, but should be independent of the
process or system being audited. This step is compulsory before an external audit
for the accreditation can be performed, therefore having a strong internal audit
program in place will aid in the process. Internal audits can also be carried out with
the aid of qualified companies such as the IMSM. These audits also serve the
purpose of ensuring standards are maintained.

3.6 External audit

This step can now be completed by the chosen accreditation body when the
company is confident in its quality management system. The entire workforce should
be communicated to and made aware of the audit to ensure that it goes positively. All
work areas should be maintained to a high standard and workers ready to answer
any questions asked by the auditors. All records, documentation, reports, displays
and calibration should be up to date and displayed where appropriate.

3.7 Time-scale
From the start of the process to the initial certification audit will typically take 6
months. Depending on factors such as the size, scale and complexity of the
organisation as well as the existing standard of its system, the process could be
several months longer or shorter than this. An external auditor will normally revisit
after 6 months with recurring visits at least every 12 months or possibly six
depending on the business. Internal audits are often scheduled 2-3 months prior to
the external audits and after 3 years a a major re-certification audit is carried out to
renew the ISO 9001 certificate and ensure standards are being maintained.
For Glasgow Clyde Precision Engineering, a rough time scale of 6 months to one
year is given to develop its existing quality management system. This will include
implementing the steps laid out in section 1 of this report. An additional 4-6 months
will be necessary to ensure that the new system is working efficiently and for the
steps leading up to the certification audit. This gives a total of 10 months minimum to
18 months maximum to complete the development and gain accreditation.

Section 4: Conclusion
Gaining the ISO 9001 accreditation will greatly assist the company with future
business, increasing there competitiveness by attaining a highly regarded
certification. It will also increase the companies efficiency by improving its processes
at all levels.

Section 5: Recommendations
It is recommended that the company looks into CASCO accredited certification
bodies to aid them throughout the process, as well as compiling a list of questions
featured on the BSI website to aid the development of the quality management
system in the initial stages.

Section 6: Bibliography
Coleg ISO 9001 pack
Glasgow Clyde College VLE
http://www.imsm.com/assets/leaflets/the-imsm-guide-to-iso-certification.pdf
http://www.imsm.com/en/iso-9001/
http://www.iso.org/iso/home/standards/certification.htm
http://www.bsigroup.co.uk/Documents/iso-9001/resources/BSI-ISO-9001-selfassessment-checklist.pdf
http://www.qualitysystems.com/support/pages/iso-9001-timeline-implementation-andongoing-management

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