Sam Sweeney

IS0 9001 Accreditation Report

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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

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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 23rd 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 toprovide 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

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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 workforceshould 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 andresponsibilities, 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 createthem, 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 tohelp 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 bya suitably qualified member of senior management with the power to make decisionson 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 tobe assessed are as follows: Quality Management Systems and documentation,

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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 shouldbe communicated to and made aware of the audit to ensure that it goes positively. Allwork 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 to18 months maximum to complete the development and gain accreditation.

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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-self-assessment-checklist.pdf

http://www.qualitysystems.com/support/pages/iso-9001-timeline-implementation-and-ongoing-management

word count: 1075

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