Firms Find ISO 9000 Certification Means Business
In a business world where the cold realities of economic Darwinism are played out on an almost daily basis, running lean and running mean is the maxim guiding most companies into the 21st century.
And John Edwards knows a bit about the lengths businesses must go to in order to stay competitive.
“A business has to be the best business it can be if it wants to succeed,” said Edwards, vice president for sales and marketing at Excalibur USA in Oxnard. “You have to be efficient, you have to be precise, and you have to get the most you can from what you’ve got.”
Which is why Excalibur USA--a manufacturer and distributor of window coverings--will be joining dozens of other Ventura County firms that have become certified for a quality-control system known as ISO 9000.
ISO 9000 is an international system certifying a company and its products as meeting certain unified standards. ISO certification is becoming increasingly important, especially for firms doing business abroad.
According to the California Manufacturing Technology Center, which assists firms adopting the international certification standards--63 Ventura County businesses are ISO 9000 certified, with more than a dozen others undergoing review.
Last year, the technology center helped 57 area businesses prepare for certification. More than half of those business had fewer than 25 employees.
“Companies are finding it’s practically impossible to compete in the year 2000 without having a recognized quality system in place,” said David Braunstein, president of the technology center. “Both at home and abroad, businesses increasingly are looking for suppliers that meet highly defined standards as an assurance of consistent quality and high-value products.”
ISO 9000 certification--created by the Geneva-based International Organization for Standardization, an association made up of national standard agencies from 130 countries--is more than just a stamp of quality assurance.
Through an intensive 6- to 18-month audit, the organization dissects, studies and assesses companies, with an eye toward helping them deliver a good product efficiently.
For Excalibur USA, which is ISO-compliant and due to receive certification within a year, this has translated into more than $1 million saved in operating expenses over the last year and a 30% jump in business. “It’s been dramatic,” Edwards said. “Our production has increased, our costs are down, and there’s a lot more customer satisfaction.”
Although the ISO certification program has existed for more than 50 years, for decades it was chiefly embraced by European companies. Only recently has it begun to catch on in the United States, first among larger businesses, and now with smaller firms too.
For some, like Excalibur USA, the certification makes simple business sense, but for firms that are stepping into cutthroat foreign markets, it’s almost a prerequisite.
As Clyde Pratt began considering beefing up his company’s international profile, he found that foreign consumers were demanding ISO certification.
“It’s kind of like the UL [Underwriters Laboratories] stamp,” said Pratt, president of Kinamed Inc., a Newbury Park producer of surgical implants. “When they see that a company is certified, they know they don’t have to worry about it. . . . They know they’re getting exactly what they asked for.”
Pratt estimates that because of the certification, sales have increased more than 20% to about $4.5 million a year.
However, earning ISO 9000 status is an often long and costly process that sometimes demands that business owners make tough choices about how and why they operate.
The audit can cost business owners as much as $15,000.
In addition, certification often requires business owners to make large capital investments and change their operations to make them more efficient.
“It takes discipline, and it isn’t easy,” Pratt said. “But it was something we couldn’t afford not to do. . . . The trend worldwide is for higher levels of standards, and it’s become a basic requirement for doing business.”
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