In this competitive business world, inevitably your business will focus on the quality of your products or services. Emphasis on quality calls for ISO 9001 certification, which is the most-recognised standard for quality management. However, the implementation process can be difficult.
Getting assistance from an experienced, competent ISO certification agency is the efficient decision, as it will reduce the time spent on ISO certification implementation, and it will ultimately cost your organisation less money. Practising ISO consultants who provide guidance on the certification process and solutions to non-conformances are invaluable. Therefore, choosing the right consultant is important. Your organisation requires someone who has experience with the organisation’s industry, process flows, and the specified quality compliance parameters.
To help you choose to the best consultant or consultant team, this article provides a list of factors that should be considered.
Years of Experience
You need consultants who have fundamental knowledge of the standard, and strong expertise in the certification process. Consider their years of experience in the consultancy field, and check the ISO certifications they have helped other companies achieve. You may also review testimonials from their clients to get a picture of the challenges they have helped solve during the certification process.
Proper Communication
You will need the consultants until you achieve certification. They will discuss the requirements of the ISO standard, personally review your processes, formulate strategies for the quality management system (QMS) implementation, and conduct internal audits. Besides, there are many other activities involved QMS documentation and gap assessment. Therefore, a free flow of communication must be present between you and the consultants. Ensure the consultants will be suitably available and are reliable with communication.
Customised Certification Services
Every organisation works with different quality principles or regulations. Therefore, the consultants should be able to understand your business and tailor their services to your specific requirements. They must know the type of QMS and the quality objectives your business needs. Implementation of a standardised QMS that is based on general quality aspects may cause trouble in front of the external auditors, as certain requirements could be missed. To save your business from any issues, make sure the consultants are able to offer customised services after analysing the business.
Deliver Real Results
The services of your consultants must be results-driven. They will assist you in the step-by-step process of certification and outline important achievements at each step. They must be able to lead certain process improvements after gap analysis, and help you pass the certification audit. Basically, they must be able to drive the key performance indicators of your business to ensure the certification is profitable.
Apart from these major factors, there are few other things to include in the checklist for hiring the right consultants, such as price, recognition, diverse industry experience, and proper assessment skills.
Bottom Line
It is essential to consider the overall picture when appointing an ISO consultant or a team of consultants. You cannot just consider their experience, skills and understanding of ISO certifications. Other aspects need to be looked at, like timeframe, costs, communication and accessibility. Choosing the best ISO certification consultants will make your investment in certification worthwhile, as they will consult, perform a GAP assessment, and ensure your business is ready for certification.
Are you looking to hire the best group of ISO consultants? Get in touch with the professional consultants of Compliancehelp today!
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