Achieving ISO 9001 certification for your organisation can take both time and effort but it brings with it a number of outstanding tangible and intangible benefits which help your business improve across a number of functions. Some of the advantages that you may experience from achieving certification include but are not limited to are:

• An improved/happier workforce
• Additional business opportunities
• Cost & waste reductions
• Increased levels of productivity & success

All of these things are what every organisation hopes for when it comes to their business, but as mentioned above, making these benefits a reality can take a company months, even years, without the right support. That where ISO Accelerator comes in! If like many businesses, ISO 9001 certification is a goal you are aiming to achieve in 2018, we can help make that goal a reality in a shorter period of time. Meaning you will experience the listed advantages sooner rather than later. How can we help achieve this you may ask? Let’s take a look!

How can we help you gain certification quicker?

The way in which we help businesses who are looking to achieve ISO 9001 accreditation in a shorter period of time is by being there every step of the way, without ever having the need to visit your site or perform consultation sessions. From developing your tailored quality management system to submitting your self-declaration, we are by your side to ensure each stage of the process is completed efficiently and effectively – much faster than if you were looking to take the traditional route.

The stages involved when using us are simple. All you need to do is:

1. Complete our online application form
2. Design and create your tailored quality management system with the help of our experts
3. Complete a Self-Declaration of Conformance

Once you have completed these steps, sent us your declaration and everything has been approved, we will then send your ISO 9001 certificate – it’s as easy as that! So, what are you waiting for? Hit the button below to contact us and start your journey to achieving your 2018 business goal!

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Introduction

The roots of The International Standards Organisation (ISO) can be traced all the way back to World War 2, where demand for better safety standards within the factories that were developing explosive devices appeared. The ISO 9000, or BS 5750 series of standards as it was once known, was introduced in 1979, meaning businesses had to comply with strict production procedures. The requirements of the standard were primarily based around those of the MoD.

The ISO 9001 standard, built on these original guidelines, was formally introduced in 1987 as many companies became increasingly frustrated with the original BS 5750 guidelines. This is because the original guidelines were specifically geared towards manufacturing businesses, meaning they were a poor fit for a number of other types of companies and industries.

ISO 9001 was then created to address these issues and offer a universal framework for quality management that all businesses and industries could adhere to. The ISO 9001 was designed to be product and industry-friendly, the ever-changing and evolving nature of the business world meant that there was a need for further updates and revisions.

1994

The first of these revisions came in 1994, where the ISO’s intention was to move the focus of the original standard to quality management systems (QMS) that monitored and checked products at every stage involved in creating them instead of only checking them at the finished stage. This change focused on quality assurance using anticipatory actions, rather than correcting any created issues. QMS, in essence, moved from a ‘cure’ to ‘prevention’ state.

2000

In 2000, ISO 9001 was once again changed. The purpose this time was to simplify the processes and documentation involved so that companies will be less burdened with quality control procedures if they didn’t actually produce new products. Another aim of this revision was to increase the involvement of upper management in order to integrate quality control throughout the entirety of the business, connecting all levels of company hierarchy. The final goal of this update was to increase effectiveness through the use of process performance metrics, where continual process improvement and the monitoring of customer satisfaction became paramount.

2008

The changes to ISO 9001 that were seen in 2008 were minor in comparison to previous changes. In this part of the ISO 9001's history, clearer clarifications were made to existing standards to enhance the consistency with other ISO standards (ISO 14001), without introducing new requirements.

Latest Revision in 2015

The most recent change in ISO 9001 history came in 2015 after it was decided that a new QMS model for the next 25 years had to be created. As a result of this, work on created a new version if ISO 9001 began, starting with updated quality management principles. The change came not with the scope of the standard, but rather the core terms, to allow greater integration with other international management systems. This update also made the standard less prescriptive than previous versions, focusing much more on performance.

This was accomplished by incorporating a process approach with risk-based thinking. Communication was a made a key area with the change, with the need for a quality representative eliminated, there is much more emphasis placed on everyone within the business having an influence in the development and maintenance of the QMS.

The standard is now seen as an ever-evolving document, being continually edited and updated with input from a number of trade committees and organisations with quality management know-how from across the globe, in order to stay as relevant to worldwide businesses as possible.

If you would like further information on ISO 9001 then please do not hesitate to contact us today. To get certified, please click below.

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ISO Accelerator has been accredited by USAS to provide certification for ISO 14001.

Following the successful launch of our USAS-accredited fast track ISO 9001 certification programme, we are pleased to announced that ISO Accelerator has now been accredited by USAS to provide ISO 14001 certification services in the UK.

This means that, in addition to helping you achieve ISO 9001 certification for your quality management system (QMS), we can now also help you to get certification for your environmental management system (EMS).

What is ISO 14001?

ISO 14001 is the international standard for environmental management systems. An EMS is a set of processes that reduces waste and minimises the environmental impact of an organisation and its operations. Gaining ISO 14001 certification is the best way to demonstrate to consumers that your company works hard to be environmentally friendly.

In order to meet USAS requirements and provide this service to UK organisations, we at ISO Accelerator had to meet a strict set of internationally-recognised standards. USAS apply these standards to ensure that accredited certification bodies maintain their high standards in other territories.

Our website will be updated shortly to reflect this achievement and the fact that we now provide this additional service. In the meantime, if you're the owner of a UK-based organisation and you're looking to achieve ISO 14001 certification, please get in touch to find out how we can help you to make this process as quick, as affordable, and as easy as possible.

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Based in Hamble, not far from Southampton, Saunders Morgan Harris Ltd are an international surveying company who provide technical consultancy services for yachts and other marine craft. Founded in 2005 by Duncan Saunders and Hugo Morgan-Harris, SMH specialise in new build projects, restorations, loss adjusting, and non-destructive testing.

The SMH team have fine-tuned their business processes over the last decade or so, but while they themselves were confident that they knew how to achieve the highest-quality outcome for each customer, they decided that they needed ISO 9001 certification to demonstrate their quality and efficiency to potential clients.

And that's where ISO Accelerator came in. Our fast-track online certification service made it easy for SMH to get certified without the time-consuming process that this usually entails. Here's what Duncan Saunders had to say once the company had secured ISO 9001:2015 certification:

"Being an established SME, we knew that we had robust processes in place, but we needed a way to communicate this and to give confidence to new clients. ISO Accelerator's ISO 9001 certification process fitted perfectly with our needs. The process was simple, and the team at ISO Accelerator helped us to develop a QMS that meets the requirements ISO 9001:2015 while seamlessly integrating into the way that we currently work." - Duncan Saunders, Director

Want to get ISO certified quickly and easily? Click here to apply for fast-track certification with ISO Accelerator.

If you want to achieve ISO 9001 certification, you will first need to plan and implement a strong quality management system within your organisation.

A quality management system (QMS) is simply a set of processes and procedures that are designed to improve customer satisfaction. A strong QMS will make your customers happier while also serving to drive continuous improvement of your operations by reducing wastage and streamlining everybody's efforts so that all workers are striving towards the same goal.

Where does ISO certification come into this?

ISO 9001 is the international standard for quality management systems. When planning a QMS, the goal should be to create a system that complies with ISO 9001 requirements and will qualify for ISO 9001 certification once in place.

Further reading: What is ISO 9001?

When you choose to apply for fast-track ISO accreditation via ISO Accelerator, we will work with you remotely to help you develop a QMS that meets all ISO 9001 requirements.

Click here to get the process started >

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