When companies want to provide certification to businesses looking for management system certification, the companies must be accredited to be credible. Accreditation inspires confidence as it symbolises quality and reliability. JAS-ANZ stands for the Joint Accreditation System of Australia and New Zealand. Their purpose is to help markets by providing accreditation services creating national economic benefit, particularly with international commerce and trade. JAS-ANZ doesn’t inspect or certify organisations, people, or products, but they do develop the assessment criteria inspectors, and certifiers need in the areas of environment, business and innovation, product certification, food, and biological systems, and health and human services. These areas are referred to as “schemes.”
Why is ISO 9001 certification important?
ISO 9001 is the only standard within the ISO 9000 portfolio that requires certification.
It’s known as the international standard for the highest quality, reduces nonconforming quality expenses, and has become a requirement for much international supply. Endorsements of quality assurance provide an organisation with a competitive edge.
It has become a requirement to participate as a supplier to the automotive and aerospace industries. When companies are seeking certification, they look for accredited certifiers.
The difference between accreditation and certification
- Accreditation is the endorsement of competence of the assessing body’s credibility, integrity, and independence in providing conformity evaluation activities. Accreditation confirms the company is impartial and independent; it is competent and has credibility, provides international recognition with like accreditation entities, highlights the ability to meet mandatory regulations, and provides for benchmarking ongoing performance to relevant standards. ISO refers to it as a “third-party attestation.”
- Certifications are third-party validation of a business’s processes, systems, or products. Companies seek certification to show compliance with ISO defined, specified standards, processes, systems, products, or persons. JAS-ANZ does not perform certification audits; it’s an accreditation body.
What to expect when seeking accreditation
JAS-ANZ has developed an accreditation manual that outlines accreditation conditions that have to be met. JAS-ANZ provides a comprehensive systematic evaluation of the applicant’s systems and capabilities. The entire process is transparent, open, ethical, and fair.
While typically accreditation can be achieved in 6-8 months, issues that can delay accreditation include poor documentation quality, lack of evidence of procedural implementation, and/or lack of evidence of structure requirement implementation. The fees associated with accreditation are based on the size and complexity of the organisation, the number of locations that are to be included, the technical scope, and the number of countries for which the entity is seeking accreditation.
Once an entity is granted accreditation, there are annual fees and reassessments every four years to ensure continued post accreditation compliance with all requirements.
How do I begin the accreditation process?
Begin at JAS-ANZ.org. where you can access the Pre-application form. JAS-ANZ does not want to waste your time. The pre-application form is used to evaluate whether you can move forward to the full application. Once approval has been granted for the full application, the team at JAS-ANZ will perform the systems and compliance assessments. They will actually watch the applicant’s team perform one or more audits monitoring for compliance with the processes. It’s not sufficient to just evaluate the documentation; JAS-ANZ will ensure the applicants can demonstrate the systems that are in place.
As consumers and companies continue to raise the expectations of ‘first time prime’ on products and services they acquire, coupled with more international business taking place each year, the ability of a company to show they meet an international quality standard such as ISO9001 becomes more and more significant. Ensure your company does not get left behind by thinking these requirements will pass. Establish your ISO 9001 quality management system and seek out an accredited certifying body to confirm you are ‘walking the talk’ in process and product quality.