Yet to transition to ISO9001:2015? This is your opportunity to improve your business

You have until the 14th September 2018 to transition to the 2015 standard. Failure to transition will put your certification at risk.

Organisations that are certified to ISO9001 are (or should be) aware of the requirement to transition to the new 2015 version of the standard. If you are yet to transition, now is the time to approach your certifying body to schedule the transition audit.

More importantly, the transition presents an opportunity to review your business. What are your goals? What do you see as ‘success’? How would achieving ‘success’ benefit your clients? How do you (or should you) go about achieving that?

The updated standard is a major revision of the standard and preparation for the transition is likely to take some effort.

The benefits, however, will be worth it:

• Clearly articulated and formalised business processes;

• Improved leadership engagement;

• Integration with other ISO management systems;

• Better understanding of the required inputs (e.g. resources, materials, skills) and outputs (e.g. products/services) and appreciation of the risks that may threaten them.

The basic steps of your transition plan should include:

1. Review the new standard and identify the gaps between your current system and what ISO9001:2015 requires

2. Develop and plan to address the gaps and have it approved by senior management

3. Roll out the plan – implement key requirements

A good process model will reflect your business and be unique to how your organisation functions. Use the process approach presentation to brief relevant staff about this concept.

Once you have defined the processes and interfaces go back to the standard and determine which processes are responsible for meeting which requirements.

The team at Risk Strategies has extensive experience helping businesses obtain and maintain ISO9001 certification and have supported many businesses in transitioning to ISO9001:2015. It would be out pleasure to partner your business in getting the best out of the transition.