My ISO 9001:2015 transition journey

My role at BSI Japan is to control the ISO/TS 16949 (IATF 16949) scheme for automotive quality management in Japan. However, I was also in charge of the ISO 9001 transition of BSI Japan.

No two days are the same. Often, half of my day is spent in the office and the other half is on the client site audit where I always learn something new about the quality management system.

My interest in auditing started after I began working in the electronics industry. The company was assigned to the ISO QMS certificate project and a few years later, I served as the chief manager of the company-wide ISO management system.

I saw how the management system improves the performance of the organisation’s system activities. Now, I believe that ISO management systems will produce great results for every organisation.

I was positive the new ISO standard was the right way to produce excellence for the organisation and its customers

I transitioned to ISO 9001:2015 after I attended the Japanese Certificate Body Committee (JACB) as a committee member. The committee had just discussed the new ISO 9001:2015 CD, DIS and FDIS, and we released a book explaining ISO 9001:2015 for the certification body auditor and organisation practitioners.

After the committee discussion and the creation of the book I was positive the new ISO standard was the right way to produce excellence for the organisation and its customers.

The lecture on the draft international standard from Dr Nigel Croft, CQP FCQI, TC 176 chairman, strongly demonstrated the potential and possibility of ISO 9001:2015.

All the auditors at the Japanese accreditation body had to transition to the new standard

For me, the biggest challenge was to understand and translate, “Risk and opportunity of the quality management system”, “Emphasis of the process approach” and the methodology of how to find the true problem for the quality management system and the outcome.

At BSI Japan we adopted a policy which meant all the auditors at the Japanese accreditation body had to transition to new standard and all our Japanese quality management system auditors were trained with successful results.

We overcame these challenges in the JACB committee discussion and in the process of creating the book. Learning about problem solving at graduate school also helped me significantly.

IRCA Certified Transition Training gives you the practical knowledge, skills and the methodology to use the audit for finding the true problem or issue

During the transition audits you need to understand the organisation transition activity, such as the gap analysis, the countermeasures and performances. Communication is a core auditor skill, particularly questionnaire skills, because the new standard reduces the documented information requirements.

I took IRCA Certified Transition Training because it gives a you a neutral understanding of ISO 9001:2015. It also gives you the practical knowledge, skills and the methodology to use the audit for finding the true problem or issue. The training also gave me the opportunity to improve my questionnaire skills.

Now, during the transition audit, I can clearly understand the focus area of the quality management system and I’m confident that I’m heading in the right direction during the audit. As a result, I will provide the client with opportunities for improving the quality management system.