ISO CERTIFICATION: A MUST FOR COMPETITIVENESS
By R.Gopalakrishnan
A decade after Chennai-based Sundram Fasteners Ltd became India’s first ISO-9000 certified company, the nation’s industrial sector has come a long way. Not just ISO-9000, which is a system certification in respect of quality management practices, but even ISO-14000, a similar testimony to environment management practices, has become popular, after Nicco Cables became the first in the 14000 segment.
Now, even bank branches, educational institutions, chambers of commerce, hospitals and other service institutions are opting for ISO systems certification.
However, it is still an unhappy situation where a vast majority of enterprises, particularly in the small and medium sectors, have not taken to the ISO system certification process seriously. They are yet to appreciate that the system certification of the International Organisation for Standards (ISO), Geneva, is a only a first but vital step that they could take on what can be an endless but ever more rewarding journey towards sustainable competitiveness in terms of product quality, cost reduction, environmental compliance and brand power.
The ISO’s systems certification is different from product standards of the organisation. The ISO, founded by the national Institutes of Standards of about 140 countries, has evolved thousands of elaborate technical standards for products, with the objective of facilitating international trade and infusing consumer confidence in matters of safety and quality. The system certification process of the ISO, represented by the ISO-9000 series for quality management processes in an organisation, and ISO-14000 series for environmental management systems (EMS), is a further steps towards a global improvement in industrial, business and service sector standards.
Today, Indian enterprises in the large sector that are confidently facing the increasing domestic and international competitiveness are those that have adopted programmes like Quality Circles (QCs), Total Quality Management (TQM), Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) and Six Sigma. Symbolised by the Japanese word “kaizen”, these aim at continuous improvement as the philosophy of an enterprise. The ISO’s systems certification process similarly embodies the wisdom of the adage, “the largest room in the world is the room for improvement”. The ISO-9000 and ISO-14000 series both involve a cultural of practices, which will be vital components and facilitating factors while implementing `kaizen’ programmes, especially employee involvement, motivation and empowerment.
Financial and consultancy assistance is available for taking up the ISO-9000 or 14000 programmes. These include assistance by the Small Industry Development Organisation (SIDO) of the Union Ministry of Small Scale Industries, the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) and some commodity boards like the Tea Board. The Export-Import (Exim) Policy provides for an entitlement to Special Import Licences to exporters implementing ISO-9000 programmes.
According to K.P.Nyati, Head of the Environment Management Division of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), the reasons cited by companies for implementing ISO-14001include cost reduction, regulatory compliance in respect of environment (and thus minimising risks of prosecution and compensation claims), improvement of corporate image, competitive advantage and greater acceptance in international markets.
It is inevitable that ISO’s programmes will widen to meet the needs of the fast changing global environment. The ISO has already set up a committee to explore the possibility of evolving a mechanism to address the issue of social responsibilities of organisations. It has revised the ISO-9000 series standards and has come out with guidelines to help educational institutions meet the 9000 series requirements.
SSIs : A review
