Slide explaining the benefits of achieving ISO certifications.

1. British Certifications Inc.
BENEFITS OF INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS

2. Certification and small businesses


ISO International Standards
provide many benefits for
businesses worldwide, both in
industrialised and developing
countries. But these benefits are
not just for large corporations and
big businesses.
ISO standards can also help small
and medium-sized enterprises
(SMEs). For example, ISO standards
provide state-of-the-art
specifications for products and
services

They can increase the efficiency
of processes.

They can help SMEs qualify for
participation in global supply
chains.

In short, standardisation can help
SMEs compete with bigger
businesses for opportunities on the
global market.

ISO standards are the key to
unlock future opportunities.

3. Benefits for Society

ISO has over 19,500 standards touching almost all aspects of daily life.

When products and services conform to International Standards consumers can have
confidence that they are safe, reliable and of good quality. For example, ISO's standards
on road safety, toy safety and secure medical packaging are just a selection of those
that help make the world a safer place.

International Standards on air, water and soil quality, on emissions of gases and radiation
and environmental aspects of products contribute to efforts to preserve the environment
and the health of citizens.

Certification to such standards assist organisations to demonstrate Commitment to
meeting the standards and compliance with the standards

4. Benefits for Government

ISO standards draw on international expertise and experience and
are therefore a vital resource for governments when developing
regulations.

National governments can make ISO standards a regulatory
requirement (remember ISO standards themselves are voluntary).
This has a number of benefits:

Expert opinion - ISO standards are developed by experts. By
integrating an ISO standard into national regulation, governments
can benefit from the opinion of experts without having to call on
their services directly.

Opening up world trade - ISO standards are international and
adopted by many governments. By integrating ISO standards into
national regulation, governments help to ensure that requirements
for imports and exports are the same the world over, therefore
facilitating the movement of goods, services and technologies
from country to country.
Reducing technical barriers to
trade

The existence of different
national or regional
standards can create
technical barriers to trade
and increase the cost of
doing business.
International Standards
provide the technical basis
on which political trade
agreements can be put
into practice, whether they
are at the regional or
international level.

5. 10 Benefits of Certification to
business and Organisations
1 . Standards and
Certification level playing
field for small business with
bigger enterprises
2 . Standards and
Certification can open up
export markets for products
and services
3 . Standards and
Certification help
businesses continually
improve by discovering
and improving practices
4 . Standards and
certification drive efficiency
in your business operations
8. Standards and
certification help build the
platform to grow
5 . Standards and
certification add credibility
and confidence for your
customers
9. Standards and
certification enable a
common “ language ” to
be used across an industry
sector
6 . Standards and
certifications open new
business opportunities
7 . Standards and
certifications gives an
organisation the
competitive edge

6. 1. Standards and certifications level playing field for smaller
businesses and organisation with bigger enterprises
“ In general smaller organisations are shy to talk about their achievements, and
don’t market themselves well internationally. They don’t have the
aggressiveness of our foreign competitors. When this organisation gets certified
to a standard they are able to let the standards certification speak for them. It
gives them credibility.”

7. 2. Standards and certification open up export markets
for your products and services
“ The payoff for engaging in standards work is greater than many small business people
realize. Standards are both important and interesting. For a company SME, it’s essential to
get involved with the working groups so we can get started early with our planning for
future designs and production methods. Globalization means that ISO standards are key
for any company that hopes to succeed in export markets.”

8. 3. Standards and Certification help businesses continually
improve by discovering and improving practices
“ When high technical level of activity are involved they must be based on a sound
methodology, on personnel experience and on rigorous project management. ISO 9001
and ISO 9004 helped us in building up processes to manage all these aspects coherently
and unambiguously from design, up to deployment and customer help, which is deeply
appreciated by our national and international customers.”

9. 4. Standards and certification drive efficiency in your
business operations
“ Without standards I would have had to close down… Not taking part (in standardization) would
have cost me my company and my livelihood… What does it cost me if I do not get involved and
others define rules that are out of line with my needs, interests and experiences, but which I have to
comply with because they are laid down in a standard? Hence, it is best to join in right at the start.”

10. 5. Standards and certification add credibility and
confidence for your customers
“ In addition to achieving higher customer confidence levels and better customer retention, standards and
certification impact on vendor selection process. For example, potential vendors are invited to make changes to
their businesses to be in line with ISO 28000 requirements, such as improving their document control, restricting
access to certain areas to authorised personnel only, and enhancing security at their premises by installing CCTV
cameras. Only vendors whose business processes are aligned to ISO 28000 will be selected. This ensures that our
customers will receive consistently good service.”

11. 6. Standards and certifications open new business
opportunities
“Companies to embrace the use standards in order to upgrade the quality of their products /
services will get access to both local and export markets.”

12. 7. Standards and certifications gives an organisation
the competitive edge
Quote from buisness “Basically, I was prompted into finding out more about ISO 9001 because many of our
competitors were starting to publicize the fact that they complied with it. Now that we can do the same, we are
finding that we are attracting lots of business from larger companies that want the reassurance of dealing with a
firm that can demonstrate it complies with appropriate standards. A lot of businesses choose to trade with
companies that comply with recognized standards ahead of those that don’t – especially in a trade like
ours, where we deal with lifesaving devices.”

13. 8. Standards and certification help build the
platform to grow
Commitment to compliance with standards lead to assuring the quality and the satisfaction of
customers, which becomes the platform for the business to keep growing.

14. 9. Standards and certification enable a common language
to be used across an industry sector
Standards provide a common “ language ” for our industry by defining the quality benchmarks that products
and specifications to comply with. Standards clearly show that the end product eg: a building project – will
meet minimum standards of health, safety and performance.”

15. Resources

ISO’s Website:

www.iso.org