certifying bodies compromise, says QCI

ONDAY, JULY 04, 2005

ISO blues: quality takes a hit as certifying bodies compromise ..

NEWS
ISO blues: quality takes a hit as certifying bodies compromise
ADARSH SV 
Posted online: Wednesday, July 13, 2005 at 0000 hours IST


NEW DELHI, JULY 12: Competition among quality certification bodies has forced many to take the short cut and compromise on certain mandatory standards of ISO certification rather than lose business.


Girdhar J Gyani, secretary-general, Quality Council of India, said cases were reported where some certifying bodies are “diluting the process of certification”. Quality stamps are sometimes given without ensuring full compliance with ISO standards, he said. 

Further, because of competiton, some bodies turn lax on the number of mandays stipulated by the International Accredition Forum (IAF).
IAF guidelines stipulate the number of mandays required, based on the total manpower of the industry, including contract labour which is not being adhered to in some cases, Mr Gyani said. 

This led to poor quality of audit and the whole purpose of certification gets defeated. A large number of certification bodies are operating in India, competing at the cost of the certification process. Many certification bodies are operating as the branch office or franchisee of overseas accreditiion bodies.

Admitting deterioration of the certification processes, AS Arya, deputy director general (PPNC) of the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), the only certifying agency in India which is working under the Parliamentary Act 1986 said there are cases were both consulting and certifying done by the same agency which is like the same person giving tuition and conducting the examination.

To maintain the credibility in quality management system (QMS) certification, some PSUs have issued guidelines on the implementation and certification of QMS, through registered consultants, selection of appropriate certification bodies and considerations to be made at the time of contract view.

GOING WRONG
Quality stamps are given without ensuring compliance with ISO standards Some bodies turn lax on no. of mandays as per International Accredition Forum

THE UPSHOT
This leads to poor quality of audit and the whole purpose of certification gets defeated Mulitplicity of certification bodies, competing at the cost of the certification processQCI, the autonomous body formulated by the government of

India, has set up a committee to study the “effectiveness of the certification process in the Indian Industries”. The study is conducted on 500 ISO certified organisations selected on a random sampling across India. A study team of 23 members across the country has been selected for the purpose.

A veteran consultant when asked about the study said quoting Henry Ford’s words: “Quality means doing right when no one is looking.” As per QMS certification, one can submit the application to the certification bodies and develop standards in the organisation according to the IAF’s ISO guidelines.
The certification bodies will then prepare audit report of the organisation, which the accredition agencies validate before conferring the titles.

http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=96313

Re-engineering the ISO-9000 Certification Process
http://www.ficci.com/ficci/studies/article.pdf

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