ISO Consultancy Services
We can help if you need assistance with setting up management systems, preparing management systems documentation and policies or are preparing for ISO certification or any other type of audit.
As well as offering a fully remote consultancy service we also have a network of approved expert consultants across the UK who can work with you directly to help develop effective management systems and ensure your organisation is meeting the requirements of the ISO standards in a manner that doesn't add unnecessary extra work or overheads.
For further details about our ISO Consultancy service please visit our dedicated ISO consultancy web site or our Remote Support service . Please Contact Us if you would like a quote for consultancy services or to have a chat about your requirements.
Setting up Management Systems & achieving ISO Certification - What is the best approach?
Not all companies need external help but there can be issues with trying to implement management systems by yourself just as there can be issues with using a consultant. We have prepared the below potential pitfall planner based on our experience of some of the worst management systems we have seen over the years.
- Can we get ISO certified without any external help?
- Should we bring in a consultant?
- UKAS accredited or independent certification?
ISO Consultancy Experts
Fixed Cost Consultancy Packages - we can provide highly competitive fixed price consultancy packages covering each stage of the consultancy and certification process with fees payable in stages (can be agreed based on milestones or fixed monthly amount). ISO certification, UKAS or independent, is guaranteed with our consultancy where we have a 100% certification success rate.
Remote Consultancy - as well as onsite consultancy we can also provide a fully remote consultancy service where we provide the same consultancy service but with all work completed remotely. Our remote consultancy package makes use of online systems, video-communications and our alphaZ Documents package to support the development and implementation of management systems. Remote consultancy can allow the development of effective and ISO compliant management systems much faster and at a much lower cost than onsite consultancy.
ISO Consultancy and Certification - Potential Pitfalls
- DIY Approach
- Fixed Fee - Guaranteed Certification
- Independent Consultant
DIY Approach - This approach can be sensible for some companies and whether is it right for you will depend on who you have available to lead the ISO implementation process and how busy they are. There are several documentation packages that can be purchased to assist with this approach but some of them are very complicated and may actually make the implementation process take longer and ultimately lead to a management system that is bloated and unworkable.
Management System - Potential Pitfalls
- Junk & Jargon - Management System written around the ISO standards rather than the business operations. Far too much documentation and makes no sense to anyone
- Pointless Documentation - Your Management System is just a template with your company name on the front and does not relate to your organisation in any way
- Complicated & Self-serving - Your Management System is overly complex and has become counter-productive to business objectives with unnecessary new procedures and forms
- Waste of Time - The time taken to develop the management system exceeds the cost of bringing in a consultant who could have done the same work in a day
- Eye off the ball - The focus on developing the management system has led to some shortcomings in other business operations and loss of customers / profits
ISO Certification - Potential Pitfalls
- Fake Accreditation - You have been signed up for 'Accredited' certification that is not UKAS (or equivalent) and has been rejected by your customer
- Expensive UKAS - You have achieved UKAS accredited certification but your competitor has won the contract using much cheaper unaccredited certification
- Crippling Contract - You have signed a 10 year contract for certification that does not meet your requirements and now also need to pay for another Certificate
- Audit Hell - Selected certification is creating extra overheads due to an excessive annual audit schedule which is not appropriate or best value
Fixed Fee - Guaranteed Certification in 14 days!! - This is where much of the pain & misery associated with ISO Certification is generated. Some of the fixed fee companies are expensive and often will provide very little service for the fee, typically giving the consultant a few hours to prepare and provide documentation using a Template based on the ISO standards. The management system provided and certified (usually by the same consultant) would be very unlikely to pass an audit by another certification company.
Management System - Potential Pitfalls
- Terrible Template - Consultant was only allocated a couple of hours to complete your entire management system which means your documentation is just a template with your company name pasted onto the cover page and does not relate to your organisation in any way
- Disastrous Duplication - The template approach may mean that you get a separate manual / system for each standard so if you are covering multiple standards this can lead to documentation overload and much duplication which would be avoided with an integrated system
- Junk & Jargon - Management System written around the ISO standards rather than the business operations. Far too much documentation and makes no sense to anyone
- Complicated & Self-serving - Your Management System is overly complex with unnecessary procedures and forms
- Not ISO Compliant - The main problem is likely to be the fact that the supplied documentation and limited consultancy does little or nothing to actually help achieve ISO compliance
ISO Certification - Potential Pitfalls
- Fake Accreditation - You have been signed up for 'Accredited' certification that is not UKAS (or equivalent) and has been rejected by your customer
- Crippling Contract - You may be required to sign a 10 year certification contract
Independent Consultant - There are some very good ISO consultants but there are also some terrible ones. The worst offenders tend to be the 'Jargon-Merchants' who try to make the entire ISO implementation process overly complicated and use the ISO standards to justify unnecessary and pointless activities. There are also 'UKAS Puritans' who will insist on only using UKAS accredited certification even when it isn't necessary and may actually place a burden on the company they are supposed to be helping.
Management System - Potential Pitfalls
- Painful Parasite - The consultant has made the management system so complicated that only they fully understand it and it may also require so much time and input to maintain that you need to retain their services on an ongoing basis to keep it running
- Locked / Licensed - The consultant has used 3rd party software with ongoing support / license costs or supplied files in a format you are unable to edit and can only read and therefore have no control over your own management system
- Junk & Jargon - Management System written around the ISO standards rather than the business operations. The supplied documentation is full of jargon and gobbledygook which makes no sense to anyone except other ISO lunatics
- Pointless Documentation - Your Management System is just a template with your company name on the front and does not relate to your organisation in any way
- Complicated & Self-serving - Your Management System is overly complex and has become counter-productive to business objectives with unnecessary procedures and forms
ISO Certification - Potential Pitfalls
- Expensive UKAS - You have achieved UKAS accredited certification but your competitor has won the contract using much cheaper unaccredited certification
- Audit Hell - Selected certification is creating extra overheads caused by an excessive annual audit schedule & is not appropriate or best value
- Audit Interpreter - Your consultant has advised that they should be in attendance at all audits leading to even higher audit costs
- Costly Certification - Your consultant has a cosy relationship with a particular certification company and has recommended using their services rather than shopping around for a better deal