Welcome
What does it take to have good management systems?
Most companies believe that establishing and maintaining them the way they are is simpler once you get a bit used to it, which is actually true. However, the problem comes when you are unable to improve them in order to boost your company’s growth and with it, opportunities. This is why ISO standards are so important to implement despite many of them being mandatory or formal regulations in some cases and companies. They provide—most of the time—all guidelines and parameters to have reliable quality systems, security ones, or even environmental depending on what you want and need.
Just make sure you find a reliable and validated company in the field that provides services and can help you or train you when it comes to ISO implementation. We at ISO Pros can provide all the services to cover your ISO needs and ensure you are going in the right direction to implement it completely. Unlike other validated companies, we have made sure to provide options and a wide range of ISO implementations.
In Austin, most organizations like us only focus on a few standards depending on the industry. For example, some only provide aerospace certifications while others prefer the food industry. We don’t have such a preference and instead, the idea of offering several options for companies like you to access most of them without problems sounds like a better idea for us. This is why you can rely on us and let our experts do their job to implement your so needed standards.
To get certified, we also conduct the regular and common audit process that is handled for one or more of our auditors. They will determine the level of conformance with the ISO you have implemented and determine if you can get your certification without any issues. That being said, our main service is to provide guidelines or just handle the entire implementation process for you. The best part about having our company helping you is that we are near you and you won’t have to travel nor rely on a company that is far from yours.
After all, we have been in this industry for over 10 years, and most companies in Las Vegas and several cities in Nevada have requested our services and help. If you are interested in having us as your main ISO experts and helpers, you only need to contact us or visit us in our offices. Don’t worry if you or your company aren’t in Austin. We have several facilities over the state you can visit or just call and email us with the options on our website. The phone number and contact form isn’t any different despite the city you are located in; we will make sure that one of our experts from the corresponding location answers your inquiries and provides our services.
How much can a company change due to ISO implementation?
Every ISO has a different objective, and even when most of them focus on a specific management system as mentioned before, you will find some exceptions and even group that aims for something different. Now, something they all have in common is the ability to bring benefits to any company that implements them. After all, these standards shouldn’t be seen as limitations or even regulations but rather like an opportunity to do things right and in the best possible way to ensure the company’s growth. You will understand what we are referring to once you either understand or implement an ISO in your company.
For now, we want to give you an example of a normative that will bring improvements right after its implementation: ISO 9001. This standard is one of the few you will need to get quite familiar with due to its importance and relevance in any industry. It is the general normative that provides all guidelines and requirements to establish a Quality Management System in companies that provide services or products. In this way, you—as the company—can provide high-quality items and services all the time and continually improve them to satisfy your clients’ needs and requirements.
The main reason why you will be familiar with it even without wanting to is that several ISOs come from it. Consider 9001 to be the head of the family and from it, several people—standards—came from. This is because all industries have specific requirements and needs when it comes to their QMS, and they have to be addressed in the regulations and parameters. Which is impossible when you try to put everything in only one document.
Therefore, several ISOs such as AS9100 and IATF 13485 were developed with ISO 9001 as one of the main bases and examples for their creation. When it comes to it in general, we are sure it is part of the first ones you will need to implement, which is why we have made sure to include it on our list of standards. That being said, did the idea and example explain to you why ISOs are so relevant? If not, don’t worry, there is still a lot to learn and get acquittance with.
What ISOs are considered to be the most relevant and requested ones?
Besides ISO 9001, you will hear and read about IATF 16949 and CMMI as well. The first one of them is only for the automotive industry and is quite part of the family we discussed previously. But instead of designing and establishing the system itself, it is more about making sure to continuously improve the production cycle of the company by prioritizing the prevention of errors and mistakes. And also, in reducing the failures and waste in the production.
To have a good concept and idea that explains why this ISO could be so useful for an automotive company, you must be familiar with the failures and waste in a production process. The production cycle usually has problems not because it isn’t well-established or planned but rather to the actions and operations that make it more difficult. Part of the standard and the parameters or requirements it has, aim for the reduction to ensure the quality of the products and services increases and can meet the customers’ needs. As for CMMI, it is part of a standard that focuses on the maturity of a company and its processes and procedures.
The complete name would be Capability Maturity Model Integration, and it consists of 5 different levels: Initial, Managed, Defined, Quantitatively Managed, and Optimizing. The final goal of it is to ensure the company can continuously improve and won’t stop doing it. But before being able to reach this point, the implementation goes through every level. The first one is all about the company being able to conduct its operations and production but it is unable to stick to its budget and instead, creates more expenses. And just like this level, the rest looks at the improvement and current problems of the business depending on the corrective actions it has taken in the previous one. You might not be too familiar with CMMI since not all companies decide to implement it. But if we had to choose a favorite standard in our company it would definitely be this one. It is part of the ISOs that provide more benefits to the company with just its implementation.
What other main ISOs do we have for certification?
There is an optional one that many people don’t consider to be relevant, and if we had to classify it in the “main” section, the truth is that we voluntarily put it here despite it not being one. ISO 14001 is a standard that has been neglected several times for companies from all industries, and the main reason is that not many of them look to protect the environment. The normative focus on one thing only—and we just mentioned it—: protecting the ecosystem or environment. It sets out several requirements and regulations to ensure that companies during their processes and operations look after the health and protection of it.
For this, they usually have to change several parts of their processes in order to meet every requirement, which is why not many are considering its implementation. But we all know how important is to protect our planet and many clients and customers are starting to rely on companies that have been certified in this standard only. It can be implemented in any company and industry, so we encourage you to do it and do the right thing for the environment. Now, a different ISO you will find rather necessary and it is a formal regulation for any company is ISO 45001.
It is dedicated to the Occupational health and safety management systems of companies. This means it sets the standards to guarantee the safety and health of all workers and employees while being in their working area. This standard applies to all companies, organizations, and businesses that will follow different and even similar parameters to ensure these two aspects. You cannot ignore its importance and since the last version was released in 2018—ISO 45001:2018—, people are more aware of the need for companies to be certified in it. Finally, there is one normative in particular that is the principal in its field, but you might not need it if you are not working around the Department of Defense nor a defense contractor.
CMMC stands for Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification, and it has a similar system to the previous CMMI since it works with different levels of hygiene in this case. The goal with it is to provide privacy and security to information related to all the contracts and actions related to the DoD. For this, organizations have to go through several phases that start with something as simple as setting passwords in all the devices such as computers, smartphones, and any with access to unclassified information. The standard is new since it was released in January 2020, and the formal regulation or need to implement it started recently in June of the same year. Therefore, if you have not implemented it yet, you need to start now and we are right here to help you with this need.
What does it take to implement an ISO?
Implementing them isn’t that difficult when you just read the documents. Most people consider them as normal documents only, but you will find all the requirements your company needs to meet along with the guidelines. Now, if we have to discuss the resources, we are aware that it costs a lot of time, effort, and resources, but it is always worth it and necessary.
If you need support, keep in mind that our company is right here for you, and not only in Austin. ISO Pros has several offices all over Texas to ensure we are helping as many people as possible by providing consulting, training, and implementation services. All you have to do is to call us or send a message using our contact form.
These two options apply regardless of the city you are located in since we will make sure one of our experts and auditors helps you according to where your company is in Texas. Just reach out to us and request any service you need.