With the growth of big brands and millions of products, the rate of consumption is increasing drastically and also the customer’s greed for quality products. This has made markets more competitive with companies fighting to make their brand positioning stronger in terms of quality. Thus, making it necessary for businesses to get their quality certifications as per global standards. This brings into picture the ISO 9001 set of international standards for quality management systems. Many people wonder what is ISO 9001 and what it signifies concerning the quality of products and services. 

So let us throw some light on the ISO standards and their significance for industries. 

ISO stands for International organization for standardization and is the world’s largest set of standards on which many companies have based their quality management processes. These standards provide state of the art specifications for products and services making the companies more effective and efficient. They help to reduce international trade barriers. Around 178 countries are members of ISO.More than 1 million ISO certificates have been issued across different economies. 

Let’s move onto what is ISO 9001– it is a part of ISO 9000 family of standards which defines the criteria required to set up a strategy for quality management. The standard keeps updating its processes and systems from time to time and brings continuous improvement following dynamic economic and societal challenges. It is based on a quality management system which is a document that provides detailed information regarding an organization’s processes and responsibilities for achieving the objectives of quality and continuous improvement. It is developed internally according to the organization and its customer’s needs. The ISO 9001 standards address various aspects of quality management. It guides companies who want to ensure that their products comply with the quality and needs of customers. The major objectives of ISO 9001 are, to integrate quality parameters with the management processes, to provide customer satisfaction by offering products and services aligned with their expectations, to focus on constant improvement in the quality of products and services.

Mentioned below are the top benefits of ISO 9001: 

1. Financial benefits: It helps to increase revenue by gaining more tenders and contracts. By leveraging the reputation of ISO 9001 organizations can increase their efficiency as well as customer satisfaction and retention. According to a report ISO 9001 certified organizations are more competent and paid 7% more on an average.
2. Credibility:  As public sector suppliers only deal with certified organisations they look for companies with a QMS based on ISO 9001.About 85% of certified organizations have received benefits such as improved company perception, increased market share, higher demands for goods and services etc.
3. Customer satisfaction: By identifying and understanding the needs of customers and reducing errors organizations can increase customer satisfaction. Also by leveraging the reputation aspect of ISO 9001, it can build the confidence of customers in its ability to deliver products and services. 
4. Operational efficiency: It leads to higher operating efficiency by following the best-practice in the industry and focusing on quality. Therefore, helping to reduce costs and increase sales.

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5. Decision-making: The certification helps in decision making by helping to detect problems at the right time and taking corrective measures to avoid the same mistakes in the future. Thus, establishing quality metrics to act upon continuous improvement and return on investment.
6. Greater employee engagement: One of the most important benefits of this certification is that it involves employees in designing process improvements and makes them happier as well as more productive. It ensures that everyone works in one direction. This benefit has motivated many organizations to apply for the certification by taking help from ISO 9001 certification consultant

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7. Process integration: It leads to better process interactions by offering well defined internal processes thereby reducing errors and improved financial performance in terms of increased return on assets and work efficiency. 
8. Progressive culture: The certification helps companies to set up a systematic approach in identifying and exploiting opportunities to make sure there is a continuous improvement in culture.

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9. Strong business relationships: It enables businesses to embed best-practice processes which contribute to more efficient supply chains, thus helping to build and manage strong relationships with suppliers and stakeholders.
10. Payrolls: With this certification, a firm can witness huge growth in payroll by almost 13% higher as compared to other uncertified firms.
11. Performance Evaluation – The quality management system based on ISO 9001 helps to monitor, measure, analyze, and evaluate the performance of an organization.
12. Organizational context – It ensures that the organization’s business objectives and intent are thoroughly aligned with the quality management system.
13. Brand Equity: The ISO 9001 certification greatly reduces product recalls and the associated brand damage.
14. Focused Leadership: To provide one direction and purpose across companies and their management.
15. Empowering Knowledge: To ensure the competency of employees within the organization, it provides them with practical and theoretical training support to do the job right.
16. Constant Improvement: Focus on an energetic approach to improve quality and adapting to inconsistent conditions.
17. Better Internal Communication: The system helps organizations by exercising interactive sessions which helps to improve communication and reporting.

Hence, organizations become certified in ISO 9001 to prove to their customers that they are committed to providing quality products and services that meet customer’s expectations. To many companies it looks like a difficult task to bring transition in their entire management and change it into an entirely new system but its benefits make the process extremely worth it. Therefore, providing the organization with greater efficiency in getting things done.ISO 9001 certification is achievable for companies of all sizes. It can be operationally and financially rewarding. 

To help an organization get started with this certification process many ISO 9001 certification consultants are willing to provide their expertise. Though there are plenty of reasons why ISO 9001 seems like a large undertaking at first once everything is set into place this quality management system will flow seamlessly together.

Joyce Laroche