“As the National Standards body of India, it has been our endeavour to operate a credible and proficient Management Systems Certification (MSC). We believe that identifying essential elements of current best practices and adopting it, with an objective to deliver timely, efficient, and transparent value added service to their clients, througha technically sound and simplified process on a cost effective scale, is the best way for a futuristic, sustainablecredible certification system. Capacity building coupled with effective and efficient communication systems, high competence and monitoring systems are given a thrust.” – Smt. Surina Rajan, DG, BIS
Management System Certification (MSC) is considered as a one-stop solution for a number of problems related to quality issues. It was initially believed that having an ISO 9001 certification would help bring a competitive advantage to businesses; however the popularity that this certification once held has reduced over time. A lot of factors such as unhealthy competition, reduced standards of certification and fall of implementation, inadequate regulation and monitoring processes have resulted inthis decline.
Now, the thing is that even though these certifications are voluntary in nature, certification bodies have an unstated responsibility to continuously improve the process of certification and strengthen the credibility of certifications.
BIS, better known as the Bureau of Indian Standards, is the sole organization in India which operates its Management System Certification under an Act of Parliament, and offers certification solutions against both Indian and ISO management system standards. The organization caters to the needs of various industries, including service sector in several areas.
A lot of steps come into play for building a credible Management System Certification, like –
Recently, BIS has expanded its operations by launching two new systems, including Medical (IS/ISO 13485) and Social Accountability (IS 16001) Management Systems. BIS is launching Road traffic management systems, Adventure tourism, Integrated Milk Certification, QMS specific to Ready mixed concrete and OHS certification as per latest standards.
The revised standards of IS/ISO/IEC 17021 -2015 have further stressed the significance of a skilled audit team. Now, to rightly meet the competencerequirements put forth by its clients, with thetechnical aptitude of its auditors, BIS utilizes technical experts from all over the country. This not only just enhancesthe process, but also offers advantageous value-added services to the clients,that too without putting financial burden on them.
“BIS has proactively taken steps to strengthen Auditor Management including, evaluation and monitoring systems. In order to increase the competence of auditors, a ‘pocket diary’ of BIS practices is being developed and is expected to be released soon. BIS would like to expand its auditor resources by empanelling competent auditors. Those interested may contact mscd@bis.org.in “- Shri C.B Singh – ADG, BIS
Furthermore, by de-linking the cost of travel from the cost of organizing the team, BIS has empowered itself to employ the best experts from anywhere in the country for offering the best auditing services.
“For achieving a collaborative workflow among auditors and Management System Certification clients, an online certification system is made available in which BIS enables auditors to interact and prepare for their audit on the identified technical areas using the knowledge bank. Experience gained by auditors gives a critical feedback making the system more dynamic. Further this brings more homogeneity in BIS processes, and paves the way for better audit planning and elevated level of ease of business” – Varghese Joy, DDG(MSC),BIS
Another aspect that the revised standards put focuson is timely service of certification. Any delay in the audit can affect both the certifying and the auditing organizations on various grounds, such as validity, certification cycle and cost of certification. BIS has properly readied itself for providing better and faster services to its customers by installing online instant monitoring mechanism.
For more details on Management System Certification (MSC), please contact at – email: ddgmscd@bis.gov.in or visit www.bis.org.in
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