There are some companies out there as small as two people that are ISO 9000 certified. In terms of size, companies range from the very small, to under 100 employees, to between 200 ? 300 employees. In terms of revenue, companies can range from one hundred thousand to multi-million dollar companies. They provide a variety of products or services including testing and assembly, manufacturing metal stampings, electronic components, paper products, printing, or different kinds of machinery. Other companies include banks, food industries, and chemical plants. There are also service companies that do recruitment, consulting, and engineering. Any industry in the world can be ISO 9000 registered, and it doesn’t matter what size they are or what they do.
ISO certification can help small business by slimming down your business operation system and make it more effective. Basically, when you first build your ISO 9000 system, it looks like a paper giant to you. In actuality, once it’s done, you’ve completed your audit, and are now running your system, you are able to more effectively utilize the people you work with.
You could have four different processes that you actually could work into one. Now one person can handle completing a particular process instead of four different ones. You’ve been able to consolidate multiple actions/processes into one. This will save time, which is money in the long run. Corrective and preventive actions help you as well. If you catch a product defect prior to its being completed or shipped, you save yourself money and an impact on your company’s reputation. There are a lot of cost effective ways that employee input can also help being ISO registered.
This process will save your business money down the road, even if you may not see it in the front end. You’ve got to run the system. Then as it is running and you are using it, you start consolidating areas of your business that are inefficient or are contributing to loss of materials, labor, etc?. The money isn’t always cash coming back all the time. You will get some cash in some workplaces if you’re getting a lot of scrap and re-work, but YOU ARE going to see it come back in savings of time, and we all know TIME is MONEY.
Obviously where people are working more efficiently, they are making more product in less time, so you are saving money and making money at the same time. In the long run it will balance out, and you’ll help your company into the next level. Also, you can put the ISO on your website. You can use it for your marketing because suppliers recognize it, not only in the United States, but around the world. You’ll probably get more calls, because of your ISO registration.
Many companies look to see if potential suppliers are ISO registered prior to contacting them. Potential customers will know that through effective and efficient management of your system you are assuring them that they get a quality product. It’s going to open up more doors for potential customers because they are going to understand what you’re doing. Some companies will not even look at clients or other companies unless they are ISO registered. It’s similar to the idea that, in the job market, a lot of companies won’t look at a candidate unless they have a college degree. In this case your ISO certificate is your degree.
Another way that ISO registration can save small businesses money is by eliminating the need for vendor audits. In the past, companies would conduct these audits to verify the quality of potential suppliers? products, or they would purchase the product and hope that it was what they wanted. Now you can verify just by asking for a copy of their certificate and verifying with the registrar. You would not have to send someone in to do a vendor audit. This is an extremely strong benefit.
Committing to becoming ISO certified is not a small decision. It takes time, dedication, and it can be expensive. However, the benefits for small businesses far outweigh these costs. Becoming ISO certified can help you small business grow!
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