The process of certification involves an accredited third party certification body such as NCS International assessing an organisation in order to ascertain that their management systems meet the requirements of one or more recognised standards.

Management Systems are systematic frameworks designed to manage an organisation's policies, procedures and processes and promote continual improvement within.

The implementation of a proven and effective Management System, such as ISO 9001, can help a business to improve operations, manage risk and promote stakeholder confidence.

ISO (International Organization for Standardization) is the world's largest developer and publisher of International Standards. Over 20 million businesses worldwide are ISO certified or recognised.

In Australia, the most common ISO standard for certification is ISO 9001 - Quality Management Systems. However, we are also seeing significant growth in demand for Food Safety (ISO 22000) and Environmental Management Systems (ISO 14001).

ISO is a network of the national standards institutes of 160 countries, one member per country, with a Central Secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland, that coordinates the system.

In essence, your commitment to achieving and maintaining certification clearly demonstrates the level of importance your organisation places on the implementation of industry-respected best practices to all key stakeholder groups.

Having a third party audit team assess your management system brings a fresh perspective to your management system and can be effectively used as a business improvement tool.

It is possible to design and implement a Quality Management System yourself and avoid the rigours of formal certification. NCSI's experience over the past 20 years, however, indicates that clients who choose to have their management systems independently audited experience both direct and indirect benefits which far outweigh the costs of the certification process.

There are a vast number of reasons businesses seek to achieve certification. Many companies use management systems as a business tool to improve the performance of their organisation's operations.

Some businesses are required to have certification as part of their supply chain requirements. Others opt to achieve certification for the distinct market advantage it offers their business.

Becoming certified to a nationally or internationally recognised standard:

• Improves overall performance, builds confidence within all stakeholder groups and broadens the scope of new opportunity

• Promotes continual improvement and ensures that your business processes are constantly being reviewed and refined to ensure effectiveness and efficiency

• Allows an organisations processes and values to permeate all levels of the business and boosts staff responsibility and commitment to these processes and values through regular audits

It's important to be realistic about the benefits and costs of implementing quality systems. On the one hand, you will need to commit time and resources to develop a framework that will support business continuity and growth. On the other, if you don't and rely on a ‘business as usual' approach, you may find an unexpected issue causes much bigger financial and operational problems.

The International Organisation for Standardization (ISO) is the world's leading developer of International Standards. Over 20 million businesses worldwide are ISO certified or recognised. Yet these standards are, in most cases, voluntary - so why do so many organisations choose ISO certification?

With over 17,000 standards, ISO addresses the needs of business, government and society. It brings together the latest expert knowledge from around the world to create transparent best practice procedures.

ISO is a non-governmental organization that forms a bridge between the public and private sectors. On the one hand, many of its member institutes are part of the governmental structure of their countries, or are mandated by their government. On the other hand, other members have their roots uniquely in the private sector, having been set up by national partnerships of industry associations.

Therefore, ISO enables a consensus to be reached on solutions that meet both the requirements of business and the broader needs of society.

ISO standards tell you what requirements your quality system must meet, but do not dictate how they should be met. This means these standards can be implemented in a wide range of situations, from government services or mining company to a small business to suit the functions of your organisation.

International standards have been successfully implemented by millions of businesses and organisations operating within a wide and diverse range of industry sectors around the world. They have been utilised by developed and developing countries and by multinationals and small enterprises.

Certification is a commitment. By going down the certification path you need to have clear objectives for your management system to ensure it makes a positive difference for your business operations and future growth.

If you are clear about why you're looking to achieve certification, you're not only more likely to succeed in this pursuit, you'll also see results in the form of genuine business improvement.

When you first contact NCSI, we'll put together a personalised proposal outlining the steps and timeframe for certification.

Once your application and fee is confirmed, you'll meet with your Client Manager, who will then become your contact for all stages of the process. They'll co-ordinate your audits and provide a constant link for information and advice. Your Client Manager will discuss with you your readiness for certification by looking at your documentation, policies, objectives and targets.

Typically, the initial certification process follows the following six steps:

1.    Initial Enquiry

2.    Gap Analysis

3.    Document Review

4.    Certification Audit

5.    Certification Audit Report

6.    Certification

You can find out about each step in detail here.

As a rough guide, certification audit costs start from around $3,500 for a business with less than five employees.

Implementation of the system/s should be considered as an additional cost. This cost will depend on the level of documentation available, and the overall transparency and effectiveness of the business processes already in place.

If you're confident your current systems are in great shape, it is possible that you may only need to purchase the relevant Standard in order to familiarise yourself with its requirements prior to the audit.

You can then conduct your own internal audit using our free simple ISO assessment checklist tool and, once you're ready, request a Gap Analysis (approximately $1,500) before your certification audit.

Other businesses prefer to hire an external consultant to implement a system. Or you may wish to appoint a key staff member (ISO champion) to implement the system. In both of these cases, make sure you choose your certification body before you start the process, and spend some time discussing your plans with them.

Otherwise, you may find you waste time and money reworking your business processes to be ISO compliant, only to find the new system is either non-compliant or too arduous.

NCSI differs from other certifying bodies in two important ways. Firstly, we can audit you to a number of different standards at the same time. Effectively, we are a one-stop shop for quality, food safety, safety and environmental management systems, which saves you valuable time and resources.

Secondly, we take the time to ensure you're completely ready for certification. We check your document systems before the audit and ensure you have access to all the relevant training courses and material.