ISO9001 - accredited certificate or non-accredited certificate

There was once an organisation that made a fantastic product and their world was rosy. Sales had been steadily increasing as had their capacity to deliver their product. Their product came to the attention of a department of the MoD, who were prepared to place a very significant order but to do business with this department of the MoD the manufacturer was told that he would need to be certified to ISO9001.

The director set off to find a cost effective solution to his certification needs and he found what seemed to be a bargain. An organisation said that they would build his management system for him, provide all the consultancy that he would need and they would provide his certification. All this and they were thousands of pounds cheaper than anything else that he had found.

Nearly £5000 was handed over and they ramped up production in preparation for meeting the demand of the new order.

Around 4 months later they received their ISO 9001 certificate, which they proudly presented to their contact in the MoD. It was a bit of a knock back when they were told that their certificate had no value in this contract. What was needed was certification from a body that is accredited by UKAS, the UK's accreditation service.

They had invested so heavily in preparing to meet the demands of the contract, on materials, on new machinery, on recruiting and training new staff and on a certificate that didn't meet their needs, that they were sunk. There was no money left to start again with a new management system and the certificate that they needed. The doors to the business were closed and a promising young business went down the pan.

There is a lesson for us all in this story, which is true by the way. When most customers seek the reassurances of ISO 9001 certified suppliers they want to know that their interests are being protected. That means that they expect their suppliers certificates to come from an accredited certification body. If you are looking for the same assurances from your suppliers perhaps you should do the same.

You can probably improve your business by applying the principles of the ISO 9001 standard to your activities even without certification but if you want to realize all of its benefits you should consider gaining certification from a UKAS accredited certification body. There is no denying that it is more expensive but then there is a reason for that.

For impartial advice on your management system needs you would certainly benefit from speaking to an independent ISO 9001 consultant before you invest large sums of money into the wrong solution.