Understanding ISO Certifications Buyers - manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors, MPS dealers and end users - all have a wide variety of compatible supplies and parts to review before making decisions, and with the continuing expansion of Managed Print Services, this decision becomes more complex, as an increasing amount of non OEM products must be purchased by the office equipment dealers who have sold the MPS agreements. Many North American buyers are new to the purchasing of compatibles. These buyers have little brand knowledge when dealing with foreign and domestic makers of non OEM products. One of the ways buyers can differentiate between products being offered is to rely on the certifications that have been earned by the compatibles manufacturers. Two of the most common certification logos seen by prospective buyers are ISO (Int’l Organization of Standardization) 9001 and ISO 14001. The pages of industry publications and internet sites are laced with compatible (re)manufacturers and distributors who display ISO logos as part of their marketing campaign. Manufacturers are looking for every opportunity to beat out the competition. Some government and enterprise level buyers' requests for quotes often require the products bid will be manufactured by ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certified companies. ISO, The International Organization for Standardization, is the world's largest developer and publisher of international standards. ISO is a for profit company. Their certification program ultimately costs thousands of dollars to complete. www.iso.com  lists hundreds of products that are for sale to help those working to earn ISO certification. Many who respect the value of the certifications and make buying decisions based on them, do so without fully understanding what they actually represent, how they are achieved or what is the ultimate cost to the buyer. The vast majority of ISO standards are highly specific to a particular product, industry, material, or process. The two ISO certifications most commonly earned by manufacturers in the office equipment supplies are the ISO 9001 for quality management and ISO 14001 for environmental management. These are considered to be the generic management system standards (generic in the sense that the same standards can be applied to any organization or business). Each is applicable to any size and type of organization, product or service, in any sector of activity, thus accommodating a diverse socio-cultural and geographic area. Critics of ISO complain that the certification process is expensive. The average cost for an ISO 9001 certification averages in the range of $25,000 - $50,000. This includes purchases and payments that are made directly to ISO and their auditors. Often companies use outside consultants to help with the complexity of the certification process. Additional costs are incurred through internal administrative costs, increased variable and fixed operating costs. A possible non-tangible cost is the negative publicity that could occur if undesirable or hazardous situations are brought to light during the certification attempt. Companies that have sought ISO 9001 certification have complained that the process introduces more bureaucracy into a company. ISO 14001 requires extensive documentation and knowledgeable personnel with expertise in the technical processes that affect the environment. Fixed capital investments may be required to purchase equipment that is needed to help implement pollution reduction. Environmentally friendly materials and processes often create higher production costs. These can ultimately lead to higher overall cost that must be passed onto the consumer. This in turn may make the product less competitive on the open market. The ISO international headquarters, which coordinates the worldwide certification system, is in Geneva, Switzerland. They work with a network of national standards institutes in 160 countries. ISO is a non-governmental organization that forms a bridge between the public and private sectors. Many of their member institutes are part of the governmental structure of their own countries, or are mandated by their government. Other members work entirely through the private sector, having been set up by national partnerships of industry associations. ISO enables a consensus to be reached on solutions that meet both the requirements of business and the broader needs of society. Some feel it is easier to achieve an ISO certificate in Asia due to less strict interpretation of the ISO requirements. Several Asian governmental agencies provide cost subsidies to local companies working on achieving ISO certification. It is believed that manufacturing plants that have attained ISO certification help to improve the country's export competitiveness. The current ISO information released ranks China as the #1 holder of ISO certifications with over 250,000 certifications. China currently accounts for over 25% of global ISO certifications. The USA ranks 9th, with approximately 29,000 certifications. Top 10 countries for ISO 9001 certificates Rank Country No. of certificates 1 China 257,076 2 Italy 130,066 3 Japan 68,484 4 Spain 59,576 5 Russian Federation 53,152 6 Germany 47,156 7 United Kingdom 41,193 8 India 37,493 9 USA 28,935 10 Korea, Republic of 23,400 ISO certification is considered by some to be more of a marketing ploy than a goal to improve business practices. This is especially true with the ISO 14001 dealing with environmental standards. The need for manufacturing companies to prove their commitment to Earth's sustainability may be more easily achieved through ISO 14001 environmental certification than by actually incorporating environmentally friendly manufacturing techniques. There are a number of compelling reasons why an organization should look seriously at ISO 9001. The ISO certification is structured to help companies reduce risk and liability, operate more efficiently, maintain access to and competitiveness in the marketplace, and improve relations with regulatory agencies. ISO 14001 is a series of international standards that have been under development since the late 1980s. The voluntary standards are designed to help private and government organizations establish and objectively evaluate environmental management systems - EMSs. ISO 14001 provides a standardized and internationally recognized blueprint for an effective EMS and how to establish such a system. These standards do not establish a set of quantitative targets for environmental performance or specific pollution discharge levels. ISO 14001 provides a process-driven set of standards through which organizations can establish their own management framework. ISO 14001 is voluntary, with its main aim to assist companies in continually improving their environmental performance while complying with any applicable legislation. Organizations are responsible for setting their own targets and performance measures, objectives, and goals as well as the subsequent monitoring and measurements. This enables each company to have completely different measurements and standards of environmental performance. They can establish their own guidelines for evaluating the life cycle of a product and for environmental labeling. Organizations may also conduct internal evaluations of their facilities and declare themselves in compliance with ISO 14001. The ISO does not itself certify organizations. Many countries have formed accreditation bodies to authorize certification bodies, which audit organizations applying for ISO 9001 compliance certification. Although commonly referred to as ISO 9000:2000 certifications, the actual most current standard to which an organization's quality management can be certified is ISO 9001:2008. Both the accreditation bodies and the certification bodies charge fees for their services. The various accreditation bodies have mutual agreements with each other to ensure that certificates issued by one of the Accredited Certification Bodies are accepted worldwide. An ISO certificate is not a lifetime award. It must be renewed at regular intervals recommended by the certification body; usually every three years. There are no grades of competence within ISO. A company is certified, acknowledging it is committed to the method and model of quality management described in the standard, or it is not. Ronelle Ingram, author of Service With A Smile, also teaches service seminars. She can be reached at ronellei@msn.com