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01 | |
What
is ISO 9001:2008? |
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ISO 9001:2008 is the International Standard for Quality Management Systems
and is recognised worldwide. It is essentially a set of guidelines
for running a company in such a way that customer requirements
are satisfied first time, on time, each and every time.
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02 | |
How
do we get registered? |
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To
get registered a business must have a documented and implemented
Quality Management System. These procedures must then be audited
by a third party "Assessment Body". If the certificate
is to be of any value the assessment body must be accredited by UKAS, the United Kingdom
Accreditation Service.
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03 | |
What
is it going to cost me? |
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The
cost of achieving registration has halved over the last 4/5
years. In addition in many areas, government grants are available
to cover up to 50% of the cost. Hatton Parkinson Associates
also operates a payment plan designed to take the pain out of
the process by spreading the cost over an extended period. Following
a short meeting we will provide a fixed price quotation for
the work involved.
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04 | |
Will
ISO 9001:2008 make a lot more paperwork? |
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No.
With small businesses the assessor will not expect a complicated
system, so don't create one. Provided you have practical, common
sense systems for running your business there should be little
extra documentation required.
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05 | |
Will
ISO 9001:2008 slow down our customer service?
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Many small businesses
have built their reputation on rapid response to customer
enquiries or orders. Often the job is "out of the
door" before the official order arrives. They are worried
that they wont be able to "cut-corners" like this
when they are ISO 9001:2008 approved. In fact nothing could be
further from the truth. It simply means that you need
a good system for handling those kind of orders retrospectively
to avoid making mistakes. It
is just plain commercial common sense.
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06 | |
What
is Accredited Certification? |
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To
ensure that companies registered to ISO 9001:2008 have been assessed
to a consistent standard the government has set up a
regulatory body called UKAS (United
Kingdom Accreditation Service). Only assessment bodies
accredited by UKAS can include the " Tick and Crown "
symbol in their logo. You may be offered unaccredited
certification or even certification accredited by bodies other
than UKAS, often at a very attractive price and in a very
short timescale. It is unlikely however that these
certificates will be acceptable to your customers.
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07 | |
Does Hatton Parkinson issue certificates? |
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No were not an assessment body and don't beleive that the organisation helping to create the system should be the one to assess it.
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Why should we do it? |
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In discussion with our clients who have achieved registration the two most common observations are;
"we believe it has opened doors for us that would otherwise have remained closed"
"it has made our business easier to manage, more effective and less prone to making mistakes which saves us money and helps us to provide a better service to our customers"
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