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I start my post with a dutiful “thank you” to all lawmakers who, by setting the certification as a mandatory requirement for participation in tenders, has helped to:

  • Transform the certification (ISO 9001, OHSAS 18001, ISO 14001, etc.) in a practice just a little more complex than the request for a certificate of incorporation;
  • Consider the consultant as a “necessary ill”, to call a few days before the surveillance or renewal audit to “set the documents”, ie to create false documents to give evidence of the correct application of the system during the audit;
  • Consider the QHSE Manager as the pain in the neck, who steals the salary in a totally unproductive manner, only able to create paper to fill with useless data and signatures;
  • Perceive the auditor as the subject of teasing during audit with false registrations pretending a total involvement in the management system. (Actually an auditor recognizes a spoof system after only ten minutes; and the role play is necessary for reasons of “survival”, given that the market punishes rigorous auditors and CB);
  • Consider the Certification Body as a tax collector;
  • Open the market to questionable operators (salesmen, extemporary consultants, easygoing auditors and certification bodies), ensuring everyone a self and less and less rich business, in accordance with the motto “a certificate is denied to nobody”.

I deal with management systems since 1998, first as a company manager, then as a consultant and as an auditor, and would love to continue living of this in the years to come, since it is the job I have chosen. For this, I’ve been wondering for a long time what could be the future of management systems and the certification system, hoping that the sad scenario described in the previous paragraphs won’t be the dominant one.

I believe that management systems will continue on two parallel tracks:

  1. On the one hand, those who have always considered certified systems only as a piece of paper: they will continue to do what they have always done (fake documents) and to see the certification in the same way (bureaucracy necessary to work)
  2. On the other the virtuous one: if it is true that a certificate can’t be denied to anyone, however, a solid, efficient and effective management system is only for those who believe in it.

I believe that ISO 9001:2015 will be not only another occasion to do business, but will offer the opportunity to “go further” to all virtuous operators: for companies who have always believed in management as a tool growth and process control, for consultants, for auditors and certification bodies.

In my view, companies will be able to rethink, redesign and optimize their management systems. Auditors and certification bodies will improve approach to the audit, increasing the benefit provided by a rigorous and performance-oriented audit, rather than a simply compliance-oriented one. For consultants it will be an opportunity to propose and implement easier, more efficient and more effective systems. We will have the confirmation of trends already present in many evolved management systems, besides the introduction of the principles of the new standard ISO 9001:2015. I believe that the key aspects for success will be:

  1. The disappearance of paper and paper records. Although the documents remain, it’s time to manage them (issue, approval, change, delivery, elimination) in electronic form; it will be the key to lighten the systems.
  2. A “holistic” approach to the company, focusing on solutions that not only ensure compliance with a standard (eg. ISO 9001) but also compatible with other systems within the organization (eg. other certification schemes, ERP, data warehousing, cost accounting, CRM, etc.).
  3. The extension of competences of all operators in management systems, both in the context of certification schemes (quality, environment, safety, ethics, product certifications, etc.), and outside, such as Cost Accounting, Risk Management (see draft ISO 9001: 2015) and marketing (going far beyond mere customer satisfaction);
  4. The integration of management systems (notably ISO 9001) and financial and economic planning and monitoring systems, especially for smaller companies who often lack of adequate and timely tools for cost monitoring and controlling. To aim is to give value to Quality and quality records.
  5. The diffusion of specific software for certified management systems, able to streamline the activities of planning, recording, analyzing and researching data and and documents.
  6. The development of the AUDIT instrument (first and second part) to ensure strictness in procedure application and an adequate surveillance on the efficiency and effectiveness of processes.
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