Of the current 68,000 UK businesses holding the dated ISO 9001:1994 accreditation, it is estimated that only 19% have upgraded to the revised International Organisation for Standards; (ISO) 9001:2000 accreditation and the deadline to upgrade is looming.
For one Aberdeen based company, the opportunity to meet the demands of the standard well in advance of December's deadline has been a record accomplishment.
Muir Matheson Limited, leading suppliers of aviation and offshore weather monitoring systems, equipment and services, has according to NQA, "Made the transition to the new ISO 9001:2000 in record time."
Said NQA auditor Alan Flood; "Having only become registered to ISO 9001:1994 last year, it is remarkable that Muir Matheson has made the transition to the new ISO 9001:2000 in such a short space of time. Their achievement is a clear indication of the company's commitment towards quality and they are obviously reaping the benefits of having more control over their processes, through having a quality management system in place."
With emphasis placed on error prevention rather than error detection, the overriding NQA assessment concluded that the updated certificate should be awarded immediately following the audit.
Through the work and expertise of its Quality Manager Jeanette Yuile, Muir Matheson has ensured that customer satisfaction and effective internal communication is central to their business operation.
She commented; "Receiving the ISO 9001:2000 with no recommendations for change is an excellent achievement. Our first and foremost goal is to deliver total customer satisfaction through the progressive implementation of improvements to our processes, products and services. Achieving accreditation to the new standard demonstrates to our clients that our quality management systems are up there amongst the best."
Companies failing to meet the deadline will lose their registration, certificate, listing on the DTI register and consequently customers as many large organisations within the oil and gas sectors specify that suppliers must meet the updated ISO 9001:2000.
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