Guidelines for CNC Shops to Get ISO 9001:2015 Certified

Why Do You Need ISO 9001:2015 Certification for CNC Shops?

ISO 9001: 2015 is a standard that provides guidelines for organizations to carry out all activities in an organized and quality-controlled environment. It provides the strategies for organizations to implement Quality Management Systems (QMS) within their scope of work.

It is a necessity for CNC workshops to adopt the ISO 9001: 2015 standard because more than 185 countries and almost one million organizations adopted it. So much adoption of this standard increases customer trust, guarantees a quality-controlled environment, cost-efficient products, and continual improvement in production.

Moreover, ISO 9001: 2015 enables CNC machine shops to carry out every workshop activity in an organized fashion, identify potential causes of defects in products, reduce cost, increase profits, and achieve a good reputation.

What is the Difference Between Quality Control and Quality Management?

There are some views that quality control and quality management are the same thing. But this is not true. In an organization, quality control practices are used for the inspection and testing of the products to check defects.

Quality management is a technique, that is a proactive approach to preventing defects at all stages of production. It also helps to achieve excellent quality of products by identifying and eliminating any unnecessary steps in production.

Therefore, quality management is a broader approach, that is integrated with every step of production and product quality. Quality control is only associated with the inspection of the quality of the product.

Basis of an ISO 9001: 2015 Standard

This ISO quality management system is based on the PDCA cycle: Plan, Do, Check, Act.

• Plan: Plan for what you are going to do. What you are going to produce? How you are going to produce it? what are you expecting as a product?
• Do: Do what you planned for.
• Check: Check if all it went as you planned.
• Act: Take necessary steps to improve the “Do” step to achieve the planned results.

How to Implement ISO 9001: 2015 Step by Step in CNC Shops?

ISO 9001: 2015 is a versatile standard consisting of almost 350 requirements that a CNC workshop needs to fulfill to get ISO certified. Most of the requirements are summarized as the PDCA cycle.

1. ISO 9001: 2015 – Plan

First, the CNC shop management needs to plan what they are going to do. In the planning step, the ISO 9001: 2015 standard requires the workshop to define the following terms.

Context of the Organization

The context of the organization is where the CNC shop defines all the internal /external interested parties. For example, all the customers (external), management (internal), the raw material supplier (external), etc.

In addition, you should know what are the internal/external issues for CNC shops. For example, training of manpower (internal), availability of raw material (external), etc, which directly affects its production and quality of products.

Scope

In the scope of the CNC workshop, the management defines what exactly the workshop is going to do, the products it will produce, and its key objectives.

Strategic Direction

It is the plan of the CNC shop in which the management will discuss its strategy to achieve its goals and objectives.

Quality Policy

It is the statement that is provided by the leadership, which aligns with the scope, strategic direction, and context of the organization. In this statement, the management should also demonstrate its capability to set and achieve quality objectives, to comply with all the rules and regulations applicable to them, customer satisfaction, and continual improvement.

For example, “XX CNC workshop is committed to producing high-quality components and complying with all applicable rules and regulations. We will set quality objectives to improve the quality of our products as per our customer expectations. XX management is committed to quality and believes in continual improvement.”

All the Resources Required by the Workshop

The workforce, specific training, buildings, utilities, and the environment that the management is going to provide to the workers. These resources also include monitoring required to monitor the process & quality of the product, communicating information to workers of all levels, and the documented information that the workshop is going to record.

2. ISO 9001: 2015 – DO

In the Do step ISO 9001: 2015 requires the CNC workshop to perform all activities as planned. The management shall ensure that all the processes are monitored and all the important parameters are recorded. They also need to ensure that all the measuring and testing equipment to promise the quality of the product is available.

What’s more, ISO 9001: 2015 also requires that the design and development activities be performed in an organized manner. These activities are validated, the regulatory requirements are met, and the results are reviewed before implementation by the top management.

3. ISO 9001: 2015 – Check

ISO 9001: 2015 requires the management to check the implementation of QMS. To evaluate these, the following techniques are mostly adopted by CNC workshops to check their implementation.

Internal Audits

The management forms internal teams consisting of auditors from within the workshop to evaluate the implementation of QMS.

External Audits

The customers or any third-party auditors perform these audits, to check the performance of QMS.

Data Analysis

The data that is obtained from testing and inspection of the products, customer feedback, nonconformities in a product, process monitoring data, risk registers, and other key performance indicators of the CNC shops. These data can be analyzed to check the performance of QMS.

Management Review

Management carries out a management review meeting with all stakeholders/ interested parties to discuss the performance of QMS.

4. ISO 9001: 2015 – Act

In the Act step, ISO 9001: 2015 requires the CNC shop to analyze the outputs from the check part and improve the implementation of QMS accordingly. The management of the workshop also needs to identify all the potential risks, assess them, develop a mitigation plan, and calculate residual risk after the mitigation plan is applied.

At the same time, all subgroups of the CNC workshop summarize these steps in a risk register of their relevant sections. After the risks are identified, the workshop should identify opportunities to bring improvements related to those risks.

For example, Mr. X has to cross the road and it is necessary, to be able to see his daughter (Work to be done). Mr. X sees a lot of traffic on the road (Risk Identification). He thinks if he tried to cross the road in such a crowded situation, it may result in an accident (Risk Assessment). Mr. X thinks about the solution and when gazing he observes an overhead bridge (Mitigation plan). Mr. X crosses the road. The residual risk is the risk after implementation of the mitigation plan.

In addition, the workshop should also identify the quality objectives to bring continual improvement to their process. The quality objectives should be time-bound, measurable, and consistent with the quality policy. What’s more, it should define all the personnel who will be performing the activity, monitoring resources required, and evaluating results. For example, QOB Statement: Improve the rejection rate by “X” % till Dec. 2024.

WayKen is Your ISO 9001: 2015 Certified CNC Shop

WayKen is your trusted ISO 9001:2015 certified CNC shop, we ensure high standards in the production process and each project meets strict quality requirements. At WayKen, satisfying customers is our goal, and we always keep the standard of ISO 9001 to serve each project. Choose WayKen for your CNC machining needs and benefit from our strict quality control processes.