ISO certification in Bangalore

1. ISO CERTIFICATION

2. Importance and perception of qualities in developing countries The importance of an ISO will be discussed in this article. The quality system defined by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in a 9000 series standard was developed as an outcome of the changes in the  market globalization.  It is widely accepted and followed by more than seventy countries in the  developing and developed regions. These standards serve as  important tools for the product quality and management of business operations irrespective of the sector.

3. The third-party certification of the quality system of an organization is one of the unique features of ISO 9000 standards. This helps in upgrading its image  and in establishing its credibility among the worldwide customers. Primarily for this reason that companies in North America and Europe are contributing good amount of resources to set up quality systems to get them certified externally. Huge corporations are more concerned in obtaining assurance for product quality systems, timely delivery from their suppliers. The economies of most developing countries are based on agriculture, which accounts for  sixty percent to eighty percent of their gross national products. Their industries are in various stages of development.

4. Manufacturing companies are generally family-owned and professional management is confined to large companies or to production units working under licence from multinationals. Consequently, many producers are not aware of the benefits of quality systems and their effect on profitability and long-term growth. The vast majority of the people are poor and, struggling to meet their basic needs, most have to base their purchasing decisions on price considerations. Furthermore, the low levels of literacy ensure that general consumer knowledge of quality and its implications is negligible. Consumer movements demanding conformity to standards have not yet taken root.

5. In this ISO environment, many manufacturers, particularly the small and medium-sized, tend to use cheap materials to produce low-priced goods of minimal quality. These are accepted by consumers because they do not know any better and because  the alternatives offered by imports are costly. After decolonization in the years following the Second World War, most newly independent countries adopted self-reliance as a national policy and started to develop indigenous industries. To accelerate the pace of industrialization, large State-owned industries were set up for industrial as well as consumer products.

6. Owing to the poor quality image of many domestic products, imported goods are greatly admired, particularly by the affluent who can afford these luxuries. Powerful advertising campaigns by multinationals have further contributed to the development of a blind faith in the quality of imported goods. Industrial buyers  appear to have the same perception: imported materials and components are assumed to be of good quality and are accepted  with perfunctory checks. Some trading houses take advantage of this attitude and of the lack of adequate testing infrastructures and well-defined purchasing specifications to dump low-grade materials and products in developing countries. These substandard materials, when introduced into manufacturing systems, adversely affect the quality of end-products.

7. The absence of international competition resulted  in a sense of complacency, which gave rise to inefficiency and hindered the growth of a quality culture. To save these nascent industries from international competition, most governments applied protectionist measures such as import restrictions and high customs barriers. The situation of companies in developing countries is made worse by low levels of working capital, uncertainties in the supply of materials of consistent quality, and difficulties in negotiating the return of defective materials, all of which makes them vulnerable to unscrupulous suppliers.

8. Structure of the ISO 9000  standards The ISO 9000 series of standards has two categories primarily such as • Core standards • Supplementary guidance standards

9. Core standards The five core standards are ISO 9000-1:1994 It can be termed as quality management  and  assurance standards. It clarifies the principal concepts of quality and provides guidance for the selection and usage of the ISO 9000  standards for quality management and quality assurance.

10. ISO 9001:1994 Quality systems It serves as a model for the quality assurance in design, development, production, installation and service. ISO 9002:1994, Quality systems It serves as a model for the assurance of quality in final inspection and test of the system or product.

11. ISO 9004-1:1994 This provides the essential guidance for the management of quality and quality system elements. This standard is for the internal use by the organizations to provide assistance in designing and implementation of a quality system so  that they can meet their market demands and succeed.

12. Supplementary standards ISO 8402:1994 This serves as a vocabulary of quality management and quality assurance. ISO 9000-2:1993 This standard provides guidance for application of ISO 9001, ISO 9002 and ISO 9003 and for the quality management and quality assurance.

13. ISO 9004-2:1991 Provides guidance for services of quality management and quality system elements. ISO 9004-3:1993 This ISO standard Guidance for processed materials, quality management and assurance elements. ISO 9004-3:1993 Guidance for the betterment of quality.

14. ISO 9000-3:1991 This standard provides guidance for application of ISO 9001 for development supply, maintenance of software, quality management and quality  assurance. ISO 10005:1995 Guidance related to quality management for quality plans. ISO 10007:1995 ThisISO standard provides guidance related to configuration management.

15. ISO 10001-1:1990 Guidance related to the auditing of system quality. ISO 10011:1991 Guidance related to auditing, management of auditing programs. ISO 10013:1995 ThisISO standard provide guidance for the development of quality manuals.