02 Oct 2019

Integration, Management System
Integrated Management Systems (IMS) when well implemented enable improvement across various facets of the system. Management system implementation reminds me of the orientation that my gym instructor gave me when I first enrolled at my local health club:- “Losing weight doesn’t happen just in one day and with crash diets: you gotta workout, gotta sleep the right amount, have a little fun...
Read more

08 Apr 2019

From the Desk of the CEO, Headquarters
Captain IJ Arora
The international standards provide a world of wisdom enabling robust planning to achieve results by the organizations. In this global economy, often doing all the work in-house is not a cost-effective solution. Moreover, with super-specialized industry requirements, perhaps a lot of quality products and services can be procured at reasonable prices. Yet it seems organizations fail to ac...
Read more

04 Apr 2019

Audits
Root Cause Analysis
As we work with clients, we find increasing examples of certification bodies requiring risk to be documented within an organization. This despite ISO 9001 specifically not requiring so! This then brings up the question, “How should we audit the requirements of risk-based thinking within an organization when the same has not been documented using a formal risks management system or me...
Read more

17 Nov 2017

From the Desk of the CEO
Ensuring that the system positively contributes to the organization’s bottom line is important. With the cutoff date of Sept. 15, 2018, looming for transitioning to ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 14001:2015, there will be organizations chasing certificates. However, certificates can’t improve the system, guarantee better products, or render better service. The fundamental changes to the ISO st...
Read more

08 May 2017

From the Desk of the CEO
Certifications often drive the implementation of a system approach, based on ISO standards. The primary implementation demand is for ISO 9001. Certifications do have initial costs and then recurring costs for surveillance and re-certification visits. This is a responsive approach to business requirements, invariably driven by a forthcoming contract that mandates the system approach. P...
Read more

27 Mar 2017

From the Desk of the CEO
Not really, but it does require a new way of planning. Risk-based thinking can be considered the fundamental change in ISO 9001:2015. Compared to ISO 9001:2008, where preventive action (PA) held a spot in the “act” phase of the plan, do, check, act (PDCA) cycle, risk now appears in the “plan” phase and at each stage thereafter. This change formalizes an idea that has been around since...
Read more

15 Mar 2016

From the Desk of the CEO
Objective auditing has always been a challenge, and this is especially true now for ISO 9001:2015 audits. To better meet customer expectations, fundamental changes have been introduced to the standard to address current business realities and advancements in technology. Much of the responsibility of meeting the new requirements falls on leaders, and a careful, objective audit to the ...
Read more