Frequently Asked Questions

IMSM’s most frequently asked questions and the answers.

Given the opportunity, IMSM would always prefer to talk with you directly. However, all you may require is a straightforward answer to your question. We hope our FAQs help.

You can manage your ISO standard using our comprehensive ISO management system platform: IMSMLoop.

IMSMLoop serves as your essential ISO management system resource. It’s a user-friendly online platform that facilitates ISO standards implementation, management, auditing, and adherence for your business.

For a business this is an expense to improve your business which is either all or partially tax deductible. Please check with your accountant to confirm the rules and regulations of taxes as it applies to your specific business.

IMSM has been made aware of these types of programs from time to time. Organisations should check with your Chamber of Commerce and other local and national associations to seek potential financial assistance or support.

IMSM is working with several financial institutions on options for financing professional services. The Area Manager can determine the best options for you and your business.

A recent study undertaken through the American Society for Quality (ASQ) showed that for every $1 spent on your QMS:

A company could expect to see an additional $6 in revenue
A $16 reduction in costs, and
A $3 increase in profits.
On average, they saw that quality management reduced costs by 4.8%.

Another study undertaken by the Harvard Business School showed that companies that adopted ISO 9001 had the following benefits:

Higher rates of survival
Increased Sales
Growth in employment
Increased wages
Less waste
Improved worker productivity

So, while it may not be easy to predict your ROI, you can be pretty sure that investing money up front on your Quality Management System is going to be an effective investment.

The Area Manager has access to information on other similar companies, industries and locations of IMSM clients.

With any implementation of an ISO management system standard you would receive a set of management system documentation and supporting documentation, including:

GAP Analysis Report
Approved management system documentation
Training materials, if applicable

The Area Manager has access to an example of the GAP Analysis.

ISO standards can be used by and is applicable to all types of organisation. Whether you provide products or services, ISO management system standards help organisations improve their performance by specifying repeatable steps that organisations consciously implement to achieve their goals and objectives; and by creating an organisational culture that reflexively engages in continuous cycle of self-evaluation; and by correction and improvement of operations and processes through heightened employee awareness and management leadership and commitment.

The IMSM management system implementation process is broken down into five basic steps:

Gap Analysis: initial assessment of current processes, procedures and systems which would then highlight areas with procedural gaps and identify remediation.
Management System documentation development: IMSM led, the Consultant develops the required documentation based on the findings from the Gap Analysis; producing drafts of policies, processes and procedures
Management System documentation review: Client reviews and approves the draft policies, processes and procedures produced by the Consultant; these Client approved documents are sent to IMSM Technical Due-Diligence Assessor Team
Presentation: Onsite presentation of agreed and approved management system documentation; instruction on how to conduct internal audits and guidance from the Consultant on future management system maintenance requirements
Certification: Independent third-party Auditor assesses the management system and either recommends certification or issues non-conformances

The role of your Team in the development of your management system is to be the subject matter expert and provide the IMSM Consultant with understanding your requirements, assessing the information necessary to create your management system documentation as well as being available when we provide guidance on how to use the management system standard. What we usually say is that it would be as little as necessary to produce, review, discuss, clarify and verify your management system documentation to effectively implement the Standard into your Organisation.

Based on current demand for our ISO services and your team’s availability we can usually start an ISO project within three weeks of receiving a signed contract and deposit fee at Head Office.

Tell us what you do, and we can advise you on your best option. The Area Manager will ask questions regarding what the organisation does, what processes they carry out; what products they make or services they provide; what industries or sectors they supply into and importantly, what do they wish to achieve?

In some cases, a client’s customer might be asking them to provide a particular standard or you may wish to manage a particular area of your business better, such as improving the quality of one’s product, demonstrating the companies awareness and management of its environmental impact and or reducing risk for one’s their employees’ health and safety. These and other questions will help the Area Manager identity which of the many ISO standards would best suit the Organisation.

The time required to implement a standard would be determined by four things:

the complexity of the standard, generally the more technical standards such as ISO/IEC27001 or ISO17025 take longer to implement than ISO9001 or ISO14001;
your availability to provide the necessary resources to help with implementation;
the availability of the Assessor;
the fourth point that can affect the time it takes to implement a management system is your knowledge of the standard; those with a knowledge of the topic of the standard, quality, environmental management, health and safety, information technology etc. generally better understand the requirements of the standard which helps in making the implementation process run more smoothly and quickly.

See What is ISO?

All the requirements of ISO management system standard(s) are generic and are intended to be applicable to any organisation, regardless of its type or size, or the products and/or services it provides. This means the benefits of implementation can be gained by any type of organisation, large or small.

ISO International Standards ensure that products and services are safe, reliable and of good quality. For business, they are strategic tools that reduce costs by minimising waste and errors and increasing productivity. They help companies to access new markets, level the playing field and facilitate free and fair global trade.

ISO stands for the International Organisation for Standardization. The ISO was formed in 1946 when delegates from 25 countries met at the Institute of Civil Engineers in London and decided to create a new international organisation ‘to facilitate the international coordination and unification of industrial standards. On 23 February 1947 the new organisation, ISO, officially began operations.

Since then, ISO have published over 23091 International Standards covering almost all aspects of technology and manufacturing. ISO have members from 164 countries. More than 160 people work for ISO’s Central Secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland.

Because ‘International Organisation for Standardisation’ would have different acronyms in different languages (IOS in English, OIN in French for Organisation internationale de normalisation), our founders decided to give it the short form ISO. ISO is derived from the Greek isos, meaning equal. Whatever the country, whatever the language, we are always ISO.

ISO standards carry the same weight in both industrialised and developing countries. With the globalisation of trade, products manufactured to lower standards will not be acceptable to clients. IMSM work with clients in developing countries to assist them in putting in place a standardisation infrastructure to enable their products to meet requirements on an international level.

Developing countries with limited resources can benefit from the reservoir of knowledge that ISO represents. For developing countries, ISO standards are an important means of acquiring technological know-how heralded as ‘state of the art’. Developing countries also benefit from ISO as a way of raising their capability to export and compete in global markets.

The technical committee of the national delegates (experts) discuss, debate, and produce a draft agreement. ISO’s members, as a whole, comment and ballot on the draft; if the voting is in favour, the document is published as an international standard.

ISO standards are developed by international expert technical committees, made up of industry sectors. 30,000 experts participate in the development of ISO standards each year, e.g. government representatives, consumer associations, etc.

Clients benefit from a wide choice of offers as the worldwide compatibility of technology is achieved when products and services are based on international standards.

Timescales of completion are dependent on the following variables:

The standard(s) you require
The number of company sites
The number of employees
The amount of support deemed necessary to ensure that your business is prepared and ready for certification

IMSM will attach the necessary resources required to ensure all deadlines are achieved.

IMSM specialises in supporting SMEs and fully understands the issues that surround businesses on a daily basis. In many instances, your local IMSM area manager can access and organise partial funding for your investment in an ISO standard. IMSM can also provide an easy payment solution for your business by arranging a standing order to spread the cost over a maximum of six months.

IRCA is the world’s original and largest international certification body for auditors of management systems. Located in the UK in the centre of London, IRCA certifies more than 14,750 auditors in over 150 countries worldwide. IRCA provides auditors, business and industry with certification of auditors of management systems and approval of training and certification organisations.

You come in to contact with ISO standards on a daily basis without even realising it. Hundreds of researched signs and symbols have been developed by ISO technical committees, conveying clear-cut messages crossing language barriers. Here are a few examples of ISO in action:

The signs on packaging telling you “this way up”
The symbols on the dashboard of your car
ISBN numbers on the inside front cover of your book – unique to every copy of each book
Directions and instructions in and around airports
Features on your credit card to enable it to be used worldwide
The nuts, bolts and screws that hold your chair, desk, bicycle together

In 1946, delegates from 25 countries formed with the intention of creating a new international organisation in order “to facilitate the international coordination and unification of industrial standards”. ISO is a non-governmental organisation (NGO), although, government experts often participate in ISO standard development. Although ISO is an NGO, it forms a bridge between and receives input from the public sector as it does from the private sector.

International standardisation will enable your business to compete in markets nationally and across the world. The widespread recognition and adoption of international standards means that suppliers can develop their products and services using reference documents that have broad market relevance. The following is a selection of benefits that ISO will bring to your business:

Increased revenue
Improved processes
Increased efficiency and consistency
Client satisfaction

ISO standards are reviewed at least every five years after their publication to ensure that they remain representative to industry.

International standardisation provides a reference framework, or a common technological language, between suppliers and their customers, facilitating trade and technology transfer. Industry-wide standardisation occurs when the large majority of products or services in a particular business or industry sector conform to international standards.

The cost of ISO standard implementation and certification is a fixed fee from the beginning of your business relationship with IMSM and it will not change throughout the ISO process. The cost is not as much as you might think and is based on the following variables:

The standard(s) you require
The number of company sites
The number of employees
The amount of support deemed necessary to ensure that your business is prepared and ready for certification

Contact Us

For a free Quotation or On-Site presentation by an ISO Specialist, contact us today!

IMSM Inc USA Headquarters
515 S. Flower Street,
18th Floor,
Los Angeles, CA 90071
USA

Tel: 833 237 4676