Time running out for ISO 9000 users

2002-07-25

Time is running out for organizations that are registered to ISO 9000, warns the Standards Council of Canada. Registered organizations have until December 2003 to upgrade their registrations to the latest version of the standards. After that, many customers will no longer recognize or accept registration certificates based on the previous edition of the standards. And while a year and a half may seem like more than enough time to get the job done, the Standards Council is cautioning that organizations that don't get started now risk missing the deadline.

A new edition of the ISO 9001 standard, which will replace the previous versions of ISO 9001, 9002 and 9003, was published in December 2000. Since quality systems must be re-evaluated and re-registered every three years, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) have set December 14, 2003 as the deadline for organizations to implement the new version of the standard.

Despite the looming deadline, the transition to the new standard has been slow. According to one on-line database, by June 2002 less than one in every ten Canadian companies registered to ISO 9000 had upgraded to the new standard.

That figure worries the Standards Council of Canada. The standards body, which accredits ISO 9000 registration bodies and represents Canada in ISO and the IAF, is concerned that organizations may be waiting until the last minute to upgrade their registrations. That could lead to a surge of activity late in 2003 that could overwhelm the capacity of the 18 accredited registration bodies.

Instead, the Standards Council is urging registered companies to plan now to update their quality systems and register to the new standards. Besides avoiding the last minute rush, registered organizations may be able to save money by incorporating transition audits into their regular audit schedule.

The revised standard is significantly different from the previous version, focusing more on complete processes rather than on individual elements. Because of that, the Standards Council is recommending that organizations consult their registration body as soon as possible, in order to plan an effective transition to the new requirements.

ISO 9000 is an internationally recognized family of quality management standards. The standards provide organizations with guidance on developing a quality management system: a system for directing and controlling an organization to consistently meet and exceed customer requirements.

Because it provides companies with reassurance about the quality provisions of their suppliers, ISO 9000 has been widely adopted. According to ISO's latest survey, nearly half a million registration certificates have been issued around the world.

The Standards Council of Canada is a federal Crown corporation with the mandate to promote efficient and effective voluntary standardization in Canada. The Standards Council coordinates and oversees the efforts of the National Standards System and offers a variety of standardization-related products and services.