As a quality manager and internal auditor, I am often asked if I think
that certification to ISO 9001 is really "worth it". I always reply that this is really two different questions.
The first question is whether it is worth the time and effort to run your company in the way
it would have to be run so that you could be certified any time you choose. This means doing all the things
that the ISO 9001 standard requires: implementing accountability and control, process and review, conscious decision and continuous
improvement. And the answer to this question is that every business benefits from these things, so this part is always
worth it.
The second question is whether it is worth the money to get formal registration: this means paying
for an external auditor to look you over and write his report, and then it means paying a registration body to act on his
report so that you can get your certificate. These costs are not prohibitive, but they are certainly not trivial.
And the answer to this question is that while every company benefits from doing things well, not every company benefits from
having a certificate to hang on the wall proving that they do things well. If having this certificate will bring you
more new business than it costs you to get it -- because more new customers will be willing to trust you, or because your
major existing customers have announced that all their suppliers must henceforth be ISO 9001 certified -- then it is worth
the money to get the certificate. If not, not.
