ISO 9001

The ISO Survey of Management System Standard Certifications – 2013

Executive summary

ISO has just released the results of its 2013 Survey of Certifications*. This is an annual study showing the number of certificates issued to management system standards in the past year.

A summary of the statistics is shown in the table below.

* Despite our best efforts to display consistent results, there are fluctuations in the number of certificates from year to year due to:

Main trends

The 2013 edition once again demonstrates comprehensive growth for all seven ISO management systems standards covered by the survey, with a 4 % increase in numbers of certificates issued worldwide. On trend from last year, three sectors exhibit steady growth, in particular information security management (ISO/IEC 27001) and food management (ISO 22001), respectively boasting a healthy 14 % and 15 % increase in certification, while the medical devices sector (ISO 13485) similarly shows a 15 % increment. Strikingly, the US tops the certification charts for medical devices, a field otherwise dominated by Europe which claims a substantial 60 % share of the market. ISO’s flagship standards are holding up well although these markets, which took off in the early 1990s, are gradually reaching maturity. ISO 9001, the leading standard on quality management, continued to show very respectable growth (3 %) while ISO 14001 for environmental management registered 6 %, a 3 % drop on last year. Despite modest progress, however, ISO 9001 remains popular with an increased catchment area of 187 countries.

On the upswing, ISO 16949 for the automotive sector records a stable 7 % increase, while energy management standard ISO 50001 is still in huge demand after its impressive 2012 growth spurt, with a robust progression of 116 %. As in the past, the market for this sector is largely dominated by Europe, most prominently Germany.

Detailed findings

The Asian market still leads the way this year, dominated by China and, to a lesser extent, Japan, while Europe comes a close second, headed predominantly by Italy and Germany. As Asia’s largest economy, China remains faithful to established management system standards, topping the league for numbers of certificates issued to ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 22000 and ISO/TS 16949. Certifications to motor industry standard ISO/TS 16949 went from strength to strength with Asia claiming over 60 % of certificates issued, reflecting the region’s healthy market for automotive parts. Similarly, information security standard ISO/IEC 27001 performed well in both Japan and India, the new technological powerhouse. Underscoring world environmental concerns, ISO 14001 for environmental management records a 20 % increase in several regions – with a pollution-choked China in the lead for numbers of certificates issued – suggesting lasting potential for growth in years to come. Equally promising, ISO 22000 for food management showed good performance in all regions, with a remarkable 17 % growth rate in Europe. Finally, as energy shortages loom on the global horizon, ISO 50001 shows encouraging growth for the second year running. Europe soars ahead with an 82 % market share, led by Germany still heavily influenced by national energy regulations. This year’s ISO Survey reflects a status quo in global economic trends, confirming the buoyancy of Asian markets relative to a more stable Europe. But figures also indicate growing enthusiasm among lower-cost labour markets, once again led by India. With 1 564 448 certificates issued worldwide, slightly up on 2012, the survey confirms that ISO management systems standards continue to fill a need where the market needs it most. Here is a summary of the principal results:

ISO 9001:2015

ISO 9001:2015 gives the requirements for quality management systems. Certification to the standard is used in global supply chains to provide assurance about suppliers’ ability to satisfy quality requirements and to enhance customer satisfaction in supplier-customer relationships. Up to the end of December 2013, at least 1 129 446 certificates had been issued in 187 countries and economies, three more than in the previous year. The 2013 total represents an increase of 3 % (+32 459) over 2012. The top three countries for the total number of certificates issued were China, Italy and Germany, while the top three for growth in the number of certificates in 2013 were Italy, India and the USA.

ISO 14001:2015

ISO 14001:2015, which gives the requirements for environmental management systems, retains its global relevance for organizations wishing to operate in an environmentally sustainable manner. Up to the end of December 2013, at least 301 647 ISO 14001:2015 certificates, a growth of 6 % (+16 993), had been issued in 171 countries, four more than in the previous year. The top three countries for the total number of certificates issued were China, Italy and Japan, while the top three for growth in the number of certificates in 2013 were China, Italy and India.

ISO 9001

The ISO 9000 family of standards relate to quality management systems and are designed to help organizations ensure they meet the needs of customers and other stakeholders (Poksinska et al, 2002 ).
The standards are published by ISO, the International Organization for Standardization and available through National standards bodies.
ISO 9000 deals with the fundamentals of quality management systems (Tsim et al, 2002 ), including the eight management principles (Beattie and Sohal, 1999; Tsim et al, 2002 on which the family of standards is based. ISO 9001 deals with the requirements that organizations wishing to meet the standard have to fulfill.
Third party certification bodies provide independent confirmation that organizations meet the requirements of ISO 9001. Over a million organizations worldwide are independently certified, making ISO 9001 one of the most widely used management tools in the world today.

Reasons for Use

The global adoption of ISO 9001 may be attributable to a number of factors. A number of major purchasers require their suppliers to hold ISO 9001 certification. In addition to several stakeholders’ benefits, a number of studies have identified significant financial benefits for organizations certified to ISO 9001, with a 2011 survey from the British Assessment Bureau showing 44% of their certified clients had won new business. Corbett et al (2005) showed that certified organizations achieved superior return on assets compared to otherwise similar organizations without certification. Heras et al (2002) found similarly superior performance and demonstrated that this was statistically significant and not a function of organization size. Naveh and Marcus (2007) showed that implementing ISO 9001 led to superior operational performance . Sharma (2005) identified similar improvements in operating performance and linked this to superior financial performance. Chow-Chua et al (2002) showed better overall financial performance was achieved for companies in Denmark. Rajan and Tamimi (2003) showed that ISO 9001 certification resulted in superior stock market performance and suggested that shareholders were richly rewarded for the investment in an ISO 9001 system.

While the connection between superior financial performance and ISO 9001 may be seen from the above, there remains no proof of direct causation, though longitudinal studies, such as those of Corbett et al (2005) may suggest it. Other writers such as Heras et al (2002) have suggested that while there is some evidence of this, the improvement is partly driven by the fact that there is a tendency for better performing companies to seek ISO 9001 certification.

The mechanism for improving results has also been the subject of much research. Lo et al (2007) identified operational improvements (cycle time reduction, inventory reductions, etc.) as following from certification. Buttle (1997) and Santos (2002) both indicated internal process improvements in organizations leading to externally observable improvements. Hendricks and Singhal (2001) results indicate that firms outperform their control group during the post implementation period and effective implementation of total quality management principles and philosophies leads to significant wealth creation. The benefit of increased international trade and domestic market share, in addition to the internal benefits such as customer satisfaction, interdepartmental communications, work processes, and customer/supplier partnerships derived, far exceeds any and all initial investment according to Alcorn.

Background

ISO 9000 was first published in 1987. It was based on the BS 5750 series of standards from BSI that were proposed to ISO in 1979. Its history can however be traced back some twenty years before that when the Department of Defense published its MIL-Q-9858 standard in 1959. MIL-Q-9858 was revised into the NATO AQAP series of standards in 1969, which in turn were revised into the BS 5179 series of guidance standards published in 1974, and finally revised into being the BS 5750 series of requirements standards in 1979, before being submitted to ISO.

BSI has been certifying organizations for their quality management systems since 1978. Its first certification (FM 00001) is still extant and held by the Tarmac company, a successor to the original company which held this certificate. Today BSI claims to certify organizations at nearly 70,000 sites globally. The development of the ISO 9000 series is shown in the diagram to the right.