Launch of Q-Star

ISA, Inc is pleased to announce the Launch of Q-Star An automated Certification Management Software to enhance Certification Process and improve value-added services ISA is known for. As an ISA Client you can use the system to view your upcoming audits and also reply to non conformance reports online. Your user name and password will be emailed to you separately within a week. Please use the following link to access the system: www.Qstar.isaregistrar.com

• Receive Audit Confirmation Notifications
• Facility to update your Company Information
• Receive Certification Decision Updates
• View your NCR and Assessment history Calendar
• Check your Audit history
• View details of Auditor(s) visit to your facility NCR Log
• View NCR’s, enter Corrective Actions responses, along with root cause and preventive actions
• View Auditor responses online
• Receive Certification decision updates and keep a record of all NCR’s
• View status of Corrective Action acceptance

New Location: State of the Art Training Accommodations

To our valued clients:                 

ISA is pleased to announce the expansion and relocation of ISA's new office to a new and larger facility with state of the art training accommodations. It is very conveniently located near the 91 freeway & 15 freeway junction, across from the METRO train station in Corona.

The path to excellence is always enhanced by synergy. At ISA, we believe that successfully addressing our clients, employees, and auditors needs require more than just knowledge of the standards and the rules and regulations of their governance that affects our stakeholders. Our commitment to excellence, combined with our mission to deliver value-added and outstanding certification services has earned ISA excellent reputation in the industry and certification community. Carrying on with this commitment, which is partly the result of continual personal development, we are planning ISA's "Annual On-site Auditor Training" at the new office location on June 26, 2010. The new office is well appointed for very comfortable and accommodating training environment.

As we move, the directions to ISA's destination may have changed, however ISA's vision remains the same.

ISO 9001:2008 BULLETIN

As you may be aware by now, the new ISO 9001:2008 Standard has just been published.

The implementation time line is as follows:

12 months after the publication of the ISO9001:2008 Standard, all certifications issued (new certifications or re-certifications) shall be to ISO9001:2008.

18 months after publication of the ISO9001:2008 Standard, any existing certifications issued to ISO9001:2000 shall not be valid.

This bulletin is intended to assist ISA clients in “gearing up” for the new changes and facilitate a smooth transition from ISO9001:2000 to ISO9001:2008 Standard.

The ISO9001:2008 does not contain any new requirements, however, the organizations will still need to examine it to see how it might affect their Quality Management System.

Since ISO9001:2008 provides clarified requirements and new notes, these changes might cause organizations to view the requirements differently than previously interpreted. As a Certification Body, ISA will expect to see evidence during the transition audit that you have carefully considered these differences and revised your Quality Management System accordingly.

For example, in clause:

4.1 Quality Management System (General Requirements) – Have you examined Note 2 to see if the new explanation of an outsourced process will cause your organization to identify more outsourced processes? Will the new Note 3 cause you to alter the type and extent of control over your outsourced processes?

5.5.2 Management Representative – Will this clarified requirement result in the appointment of a new management representative; one that is a member of your organization’s own management?

6.2.1 Human Resources (General) – Did the new Note for this clause expand your view of the personnel expected to be competent based on their direct or indirect effect on conformity to product requirements?

6.3 Infrastructure – Does the new example of supporting services now require you to add maintenance of information systems to be audited during internal audits?

6.4 Work Environment – Is the new Note in this clause expecting you to consider more conditions that might affect the work environment?

7.2.1 Determination of Requirements Related to the Product – Did the new Note in this clause expand your scope of what should be considered as a post-delivery activity?

7.3.3 Design and Development Outputs – Did the new Note in this clause result in product preservation requirements, e.g., packaging and handling being considered as part of your design and development output?

7.5.4 Customer Property – Did the revised Note for this clause cause you to expand the category of customer property to include personal data?

7.6 Control of Monitoring and Measuring Equipment – Has the new Note for this clause clarified how you will be able to confirm the ability of computer software to satisfy the intended application?

8.2.1 Customer Satisfaction – Has the new Note for this clause identified other sources of customer input for monitoring customer’s perception as to how well you are meeting their requirements?

8.2.2 Internal Audit – Has the revised requirement resulted in re-evaluating your audit procedure and how audits processes meets these requirements?

8.2.3 Monitoring and Measurement of Processes – Has the new Note for this clause resulted in evaluating each process impact while considering monitoring and measurement methods for conformity to product requirements and the effectiveness of the quality management system?

8.5.2 Corrective Action – Has the revised requirement to review the effectiveness of the action taken caused an update to your corrective action process and any of the documents that will be affected by this change?

8.5.3 Preventive Action - Has the revised requirement to review the effectiveness of the action taken caused an update to your preventive action process and any documents that will be affected by this change?

Evidence

What would be credible evidence to share with our auditors as evidence that your organization has considered all the differences between ISO9001:2000 and ISO9001:2008? First, you should have a copy of the new standard. It’s Annex B is a table that identifies all the text changes from the ISO9001:2000 to ISO9001:2008.   You can order them at these sites:

http://www.iso.org/iso/search.htm?qt=iso+9001&searchSubmit=Search&sort=rel&type=simple&published=on

http://www.asq.org

Did your organization review the differences and modify the quality management system as appropriate? Have the changes to the clauses in the new version and how they may affect your organization been discussed?  Evidence of these changes can be documented in the Management Review meeting minutes. Are the changes reflected appropriately in your documented procedures?  Did you review the changes with your internal auditors and do you have evidence of this training?

Please feel free to use the above links for additional information, and as always, please contact ISA with any questions or concerns.

Note: While every attempt has been made to maintain the accuracy of the information this bulletin is merely a guide. ISA is not responsible for any errors or omissions.