Should our business appoint an ISO Consultant?

When businesses and organisations decide to go ahead and get ISO certified, one of the first questions is whether they should complete the processes independently or hire ISO certification consultants to assist them. Obtaining an ISO Standard like ISO 9001 isn’t particularly complicated and it’s possible that if you have the internal resources, you could probably do it all yourself.

ISO certifications clearly have immense benefit but If you’re unfamiliar with the way ISO accreditation bodies operate, then you could find yourself tripped up by something that could have been easily avoided.

Companies are often unaware of the complexities of attempting to obtain certification on their own. It is often quicker and more efficient for an organisation to become eligible for the certification, with the assistance of experienced ISO certification consultants, who can continually advise the business.

What can our ISO Consultants do to help your business ?

ISO certification consultants are specialists in assisting businesses implementing ISO Standards and get certified to them. ISO consultants typically examine a company’s current processes and give direction, while the team implement procedures and controls to comply with the standards. They may, for instance, discover issues with the way the company analyse data and address risks. They can then develop or update procedures, as well as train staff on the changes.

An excellent consultant is experienced in their field and has a diverse set of credentials. They are well-versed in the requirements of ISO Standards and have experience applying the requirements across various industries.

Often management and staff lack the expertise required to implement the requirements required by the ISO standards when aiming for the initial certification. You might also be familiar with one of the standards just to discover it has been updated since you last worked with it. Every 5-10 years, ISO evaluate, update and republish individual standards so to achieve and maintain certification, it can be beneficial to hire ISO consultants to support with the project.

Here are some of the ways ISO consultants can support your organisation and help you get certified.

What are the benefits of employing an ISO Consultant?

Your ISO consultant can offer a fresh perspective.

The best support any company can get, is when they are told about their weak points and is able to improve them. When you are running the company and looking after the management, you try your best to use best practice across the organisation; however, it becomes difficult to notice every shortcoming without support. An ISO consultant from a third party can provide a new point of view and potentially identify issues that hasn’t been identified before or even worse, become part of the day-to-day routine.

Your ISO consultant can assist with ensuring efficient practices.

ISO provides companies with exposure to universally recognised practices throughout their organisation eg. quality assurance, sustainability practices, data security, product safety, regulatory compliance, and Health & Safety requirements.

A company on its own might struggle identifying all these practices and struggle with implementing them. With the support of ISO consultancy services, the company can learn about these practices and the consultant will make sure they are efficiently executed within your organisation.

Knowing the practices and standards is not enough, if you fail to implement them properly.

A consultant will educate you and help you achieve the best practices.

Assistance and support with increasing overall revenues and market share

It is evident through many studies and reports, that most companies with ISO certifications see an increase in their revenues and market share compared to the companies without them. ISO certification can drive significant improvements for any company and working hard to get one should be on every company’s agenda.

A consultant doesn’t only help a company achieve the certificate, but they make sure the standards of the company are maintained even after being certified. All this will lead to improvements within the company and will eventually improve the overall revenues. It is highly beneficial for your company and hiring an ISO Consultant is definitely going to help you in the long run.

Assistance and support with enhancing the reputation of the business

Handling challenges and opportunities is a key competence for ISO Consultants and is often the expertise most desired by companies who want to decrease corporate risk or grow via the identification and utilisation of opportunities. Any improvement in risk mitigation, knowledge or methodologies can benefit a company’s image and profitability.

Achieving accreditation more quickly and at a reasonable cost.

If you handle ISO certification on your own, it can be expensive with the expense of training staff to meet the criteria outweighing the cost of consultancy support.

At QSC, we only write bespoke systems for all our clients to ensure accuracy and integrity – there is no standard package when it comes to quality.

So, if you are new to ISO certifications and need some support with where to start with your ISO Management System implementation, call us on 01889 881887 for an informal discussion.