What is ISO 9001:2015?
ISO 9001 is recognized internationally as the world’s most widely adopted Quality Management System (QMS) and a powerful business improvement tool that specifies requirements for a quality management system when an organization:
a) needs to demonstrate its ability to consistently provide products and services that meet customer and applicable statutory and regulatory requirements, and
b) aims to enhance customer satisfaction through the effective application of the system, including processes for improvement of the system and the assurance of conformity to customer and applicable statutory and regulatory requirements.
ISO 9001:2015 is the latest version of ISO 9001.
(sources: iso.org/bsigroup.com)
British Standards Institution (BSI) – ISO Certification Body
The Board of The British Standards Institution is committed to the highest standards of corporate governance which it considers fundamental to a business’s success.
BSI is a business improvement partner who has shaped best practices for over 100 years, helping organizations around the world embed excellence, build competence and capability for sustainable growth. They provide accreditation worldwide with ANSI-ASQ National Accreditation Board (ANAB), supported by local well-known and credible accreditation as appropriate to their customer requirements and the local market needs. BSI is among the most respected and reputable management systems certification bodies in the world and are accredited by around 20 local and international bodies.
The benefits of BSI ISO certification for ACT
- It helps letting customers know about the smooth running of business.
- The process of achieving and maintaining the certification helps ensure that we are continually improving.
- The regular assessment process improves staff responsibility, commitment and motivation.
- It helps us achieve better overall performance and cut costs.
- We have also been able to widen our market opportunities.
With BSI as our ISO certification body, we have been able to challenge mediocrity and complacency to help embed excellence into our products and services and provide only the best to our students. This international certification body has been a long-time partner in ACT’s journey towards excellence as it provides ACT with its ISO certification and with its yearly audits has helped ACT meet the standards of ISO 9001:2015 and pave its way towards achieving its vision of becoming the leading teacher training organization by 2022.
Quality Policy & Objectives
- We are committed to deliver training courses of consistently good quality and satisfy our customers
- We are committed to comply with all statuary and regulatory requirement related to our products
- We shall bring continual improvement in identified spheres of our business on regular basis
The quality management system of Asian College of Teachers was awarded ISO 9001:2008 (Certificate No FS 561839) which conforms to the global BS EN ISO 9001: 2008 quality standard on 30th April 2010. We, at Asian College of Teachers, have development a system of policy statements, operating procedures, and work instructions to assure the quality of the services we provide to our external customers (those who are participating in training), as well as to have quality of the training on highest standard. This "quality system" guides us in achieving our goals of achieving the highest standard and maintaining students' satisfaction. At Asian College of Teachers, we often have a number of different products in house, as well as many units of single products like online and onsite version of different training. We believe that effective service identification and traceability will result in reduced costs by helping eliminate wasted effort and material due to mix-ups or lost products. It will also ultimately result in increased business due to customer satisfaction from getting expected quality of services.
At Asian College of Teachers, we have numerous processes in the operation of the business for delivering effective service. (By process we mean a systematic series of actions directed to some end or goal.) We believe it is important for us to maintain control over these various processes and to document those processes. This is to make sure that the service is delivered correctly and consistently. We also believe that effective process control will result in reduced costs by helping eliminate wasted effort and materials due to delivering the service incorrectly and inconsistently. This also helps us handling customer complaints is identified as one of the key processes. The objective of this process is to analyze the root causes of complaints and initiate appropriate corrective action to minimize complaints and enhance customer satisfaction.
Accreditation Process
Accreditation is based on conformance to ISO/IEC 17021-1. International Accreditation Bodies like ANAB accredits Certification Bodies (CBs) that demonstrate competence to audit and certify organizations conforming with management system standards. Accreditation by ANAB ensures the impartiality and competence of the CB and fosters confidence and acceptance of the CB's certifications by public and private sector end users. The Accreditation Bodies like ANAB operate according to ISO 17011, and then audit the CBs against ISO 17021 to ensure that ISO 9001 and related management system certifications are only issued in an objective and trusted manner. ANAB issues accreditation symbols to accredited conformity assessment bodies (laboratories, certification bodies, forensic service providers, inspection bodies, etc.) to indicate their accredited status. An organization considering certification wants to know about the reputation and competence of the CB it selects. The organization wants assurance that the CB is competent to evaluate its systems and that, no matter where they're located, customers will value the CB's judgment. ANAB with its international reputation provides just that to the CBs, thereby also providing added value to the organizations that these ANAB accredited CBs certify. BSI, the ISO Certification Body for ACT is accredited by ANAB.
What is the ANSI National Accreditation Board (ANAB)?
The ANSI National Accreditation Board is a non-governmental organization that provides accreditation services to public and private-sector organizations. ANAB is a wholly owned subsidiary of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). ANAB is the largest multi-disciplinary accreditation body in North America and provides services to more than 2,500 organizations in approx 80 countries.
ANAB is a signatory of the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) and International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) multilateral recognition arrangements, demonstrating ISO/IEC 17011 compliance via peer assessments attesting to equal reliability worldwide. ANAB was one of the original organizers of the International Accreditation Forum (IAF), established to promote cooperation among accreditation bodies.
A non-profit and wholly owned subsidiary of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), ANAB has comprehensive signatory status across multilateral recognition arrangements of the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) and International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC). ANAB helps industry and facilitates trade by providing accreditation and training and serving as architects for the conformity assessment structure of industry-specific programs.
Association/Membership
Accreditation bodies, which have been evaluated by peers as competent, sign arrangements that enhance the acceptance of products and services across national borders, thereby creating a framework to support international trade through the removal of technical barriers. These arrangements are managed by the International Accreditation Forum (IAF), in the fields of management systems, products, services, personnel and other similar programmes of conformity assessment.
International Accreditation Forum (IAF)
The IAF is the world association of Conformity Assessment Accreditation Bodies and other bodies interested in conformity assessment in the fields of management systems, products, services, personnel and other similar programmes of conformity assessment. Its primary function is to develop a single worldwide program of conformity assessment which reduces risk for business and its customers by assuring them that accredited certificates may be relied upon. Accreditation assures users of the competence and impartiality of the body accredited.
The primary purpose of IAF is two-fold. Firstly, to ensure that its accreditation body members only accredit bodies that are competent to do the work they undertake and are not subject to conflicts of interest. The second purpose of the IAF is to establish mutual recognition arrangements, known as Multilateral Recognition Arrangements (MLA), between its accreditation body members which reduces risk to business and its customers by ensuring that an accredited certificate may be relied upon anywhere in the world.
ANAB is a founding member of the IAF
What is the role of IAF?
A - IAF is a global network of accreditation bodies and other organisations involved in conformity assessment activities. Its key roles include:
- to maintain and expand the Multilateral Recognition Arrangement (MLA), between accreditation body members, with the aim of reducing risk to business and its customers and ensuring that an accredited certificate may be relied upon anywhere in the world;
- to develop and harmonize accreditation practices across the world; and
- to promote accreditation as an effective mechanism for providing confidence in goods and services, which is essential to global trade facilitation.
