It is a popular misconception that businesses must document absolutely everything they do in order to obtain ISO 9001 certification. Yes, there is a fair bit of documentation involved, but there's no reason to fear that your office will be buried under tonnes and tonnes of paperwork.

In fact, one of the objectives of ISO 9001:2015 - the most recent version of the ISO 9001 standard for quality management systems - was to streamline the amount and detail of documentation required.

Documents required for ISO 9001 certification

There are two sets of documents required for ISO 9001 certification.

The following mandatory documents are needed to obtain ISO 9001 certification and must be updated continuously:

• Scope of the quality management system (QMS)
• Quality policy
• Quality objectives

Additionally, the following records must be retained in order to prove that your QMS meets ISO 9001 requirements:

• Monitoring and measuring resources
• Records of staff training, qualifications, experience, etc.
• Product / service requirement review records
• Records of design and development inputs, controls, outputs and changes
• Characteristics of the product / service to be provided
• Customer property records
• Product / service provision change control records
• Product / service release
• Record of nonconforming outputs
• Monitoring and measurement results
• Results of internal audit
• Resilts of management review
• Results of corrective actions
• Criteria for evaluation and selection of suppliers

Different documents may be required if you are looking to achieve ISO 14001 or ISO 27001 certification. Contact ISO Accelerator for more information on these standards.

If you want to achieve ISO certification as quickly as possible, ISO Accelerator can help. Our online certification service eliminates the need for site visits and face-to-face consultations, helping you to save time and cut costs.

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Quality control is a crucial part of many industries, but none more so than manufacturing. A manufacturing company must have robust systems in place to ensure that their products are of a consistently high quality.

Because manufacturing firms live and die on the quality of the products they make, new companies generally don't wait long to implement a quality management system (QMS) and secure ISO 9001 certification as a mark of their dependability.

Why is ISO 9001 certification beneficial for manufacturing companies?

ISO 9001 is the global standard for quality management systems. A company that has achieved ISO 9001 certification can be relied upon to deliver high-quality products and services using efficient, well-defined processes.

In order to meet the criteria for ISO 9001 certification, a manufacturing company must have a suitable quality management system in place. The QMS should:

• Have a strong customer focus

• Involve the entire organisation

• Aim to deliver continual improvement

• Minimise waste to make all processes as efficient as possible

SEE ALSO: The 8 Principles of Quality Management

Obtaining ISO 9001 certification is a good way to get more business - getting certified proves the quality of your manufacturing processes to potential customers, and many businesses will only consider working with suppliers who hold ISO 9001 certification.

ISO Accelerator can help manufacturing companies to achieve ISO 9001 certification quickly and with minimal hassle. Click here to find out more about our remote ISO certification service.

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In 2015, all UN member states adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. At the core of this resolution were 17 goals that were designed to deliver a better and more sustainable future for all of humanity.

One of those sustainable development goals was as follows:

• GOAL 9 - Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation, and foster innovation.

That last word - innovation - will be critical if we are to continue evolving while also preserving the environment for future generations. Now more than ever, businesses must get creative and devise better, smarter strategies for sustainable growth. The success of the UN's seventeen sustainable development goals depends on it.

How we're planning for a sustainable future

We at ISO Accelerator are leaders in innovation for the development of sustainable, independently-accredited certification. As far as we know, we were the very first company in the UK that was specifically set up to offer this service; others have followed our lead, but their existing infrastructure, pricing structures and methods of working means that they simply cannot compete with us.

We consider ourselves a climate emergency company - we help both our clients and the planet by providing truly sustainable certification services. Our remote auditing system has taken 25 auditors off the road; by our estimates, this has already saved 185 metric tonnes of CO2e from being released into the atmosphere.

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Globalisation has forever changed the way the world does business. Yes, the COVID-19 pandemic has made cross-border movement more difficult in recent months, but people are being vaccinated, the tide is beginning to turn, and in the meantime, the Internet allows us to continue collaborating with people all over the world.

With more and more businesses working with clients and suppliers in other countries, there is a real and pressing need for solutions that transcend international borders. That's why independent global accreditation for SMEs is a key goal for us here at ISO Accelerator - we want to make it easy for quality businesses to:

• Obtain independent ISO management system certification
• Maintain certifications online with remote audits
• Quickly and easily confirm the status of a company’s independent ISO management system certification

Our Scan and See© authentication system (launched last month) is just one of several initiatives that will bring us closer to our goal of independent global accreditation. We already offer online certification to businesses all over the world - see How Does It Work? to find out how you can get certified remotely with ISO Accelerator.

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Keeping a close eye on ISO standards can eat up a lot of your time - which isn't ideal when you're trying to focus on growing your business. Here at ISO Accelerator, we work hard to ensure that we're constantly up to date with the latest version of each standard, giving you one less thing to worry about.

Our customers occasionally ask us how we're able to stay on top of all the latest ISO changes. We'd like to shed some light on that subject today.

How do we keep up with developments and changes in ISO standards?

In order to demonstrate our commitment to being at the forefront of the development of international standards, we decided it was important for ISO Accelerator to become a member of one of ISO's in-country representatives.

Since ISO Accelerator is a global company, we then had to determine which national standards body we wanted to join. We came to the conclusion that, because our international headquarters are located in the United Kingdom, BSI - ISO's member body in the UK - would be the best fit for us.

How does BSI membership benefit our customers?

ISO Accelerator's BSI membership demonstrates that we are:

• Committed to high standards
• Committed to performing better
• Committed to delivering excellence

But beyond that, our BSI membership also ensures that whenever standards like ISO 9001 are updated, we are among the first to hear about it.

Learn more about BSI membership >

Why don't we just become an ISO member?

ISO is a global network of national standards bodies. There is only one member per country and each member represents ISO in its home country. It is important to understand that individuals and companies cannot become ISO members.

If you would like to benefit from our BSI membership and join one of the world's leading online certification companies, please contact ISO Accelerator to find out more about our remote ISO certification services.

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