ISO 9001: You're Doing It Wrong
By Branden Crowe
(Document what you do) + (Follow your processes) = ISO Complaince.
Adding anything else to that equation means you are doing it wrong, and have either been sold a bill of goods by an expensive consultant or you are stuck in an old way of thinking.
Misconceptions
There are a lot of outdated ideas about ISO, and those ideas lead to bad approaches to certification.
Huge Library of Documentation: The standard requires exactly 4 documents, plus 7 types of records if applicable. More policies and processes should only be added if they add value to your company.
Expensive and Time-Consuming: This is the ongoing experience of many who have gone through the certification process. It doesn't have to be that way.
Takes 9-12 Months: A focused, efficient workflow that starts by outsourcing the creation of essential documents (to us) can achieve certification much faster, especially for smaller organizations.
Not Feasible for Early-Stage Companies: It's often easier for early-stage companies to get certified, and 97% of certified companies maintain it throughout their life.
ISO Tells you how to Operation your business: ISO is not prescriptive -document your processes as they are and follow them - that's all.
Bad Approach #1:
Hire Full Time Compliance Staff
This makes sense if you are a Fortune 500 Company or a Military Contractor. Otherwise, it leads to:
Huge Overhead: Hiring full-time staff is costly, and the time required to create, adjust, and implement the system can take hundreds of hours, detracting from other crucial business activities.
Bloat: Look how many documents I made! Look how many meetings I had with all the engineers and sales people! I must be doing a good job. Just don't ask me about the cost and ROI.
Bad Approach #2:
Hiring Consultants
This really comes down to incentives. If a consultant can convince you that the certification process is incredibly intricate, difficult, and time consuming, you will also accept:
Expensive Fees: The average consultant charges upwards of $75,000, and their pricing is often opaque, with costs based on what they think they can charge rather than a straightforward, value-driven quote.
High Employee Involvement: Despite paying for external expertise, consultants typically require extensive input from your team—hundreds of hours of interviews, meetings, and content reviews—adding a significant burden.
Over-Documentation: Consultants often use broad, standardized template sets that include irrelevant documents that do nothing for your business. They leave you with a big bill and a big unwieldy doc set.
A Better Approach to ISO 9001
To make ISO 9001 a real asset, you need a different mindset. Here’s how to do it right:
Focus on Operational Fitness: The goal is to enhance your company’s operational fitness—how well your business can adapt, grow, and handle challenges. A good process of producing documentation can serve as a gap analysis and systematically establish good processes.
Streamline Documentation: Documentation should serve your business, not the other way around. Keeping things simple and easy to understand can reduce headaches and help everyone stay on the same page.
How ISO Delivered Does It Differently
At ISO Delivered, our approach is simple, efficient, and transparent. Here’s how we stand out:
Get Started Quickly: With ISO Delivered, you can get a price and an example process right away, without needing to enter data or set up a meeting. We believe transparency from the start is the best way to build trust.
Targeted Documentation: We create a targeted set of documents that meet ISO requirements while aligning with your unique business needs. Unlike bloated, one-size-fits-all templates, our documentation is tailored, streamlined, and efficient.
Transparent Cost, High Value: We offer a 95% complete Quality Management System for $10,000—far below the industry average of $50,000. Plus, our process minimizes the burden on your team, freeing up your time to focus on growing your business.
Experienced Professionals: Our US-based professionals have the expertise to craft custom, streamlined deliverables, ensuring your ISO certification is both achievable and valuable. No offshoring, no unnecessary complexity—just a focused, efficient process.
If you've been struggling with ISO certification or feel like it hasn't added value to your operations, it might be time to take a new approach.