ISO 9001 and 17100 certifications Thread poster: Inge Schumacher
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Inge Schumacher 
France
Local time: 09:09
Member (2023)
French to German
+ ...
Hello everyone,
I just wondered if a very small (translation) agency has the means to implement and maintain a Quality Management system according to ISO 9001 and ISO 17100.
As a former Quality Manager, Auditor and certification Project Manager, I have my idea, but I would like to get colleagues' opinions.
Next question: If an ISO-certified agency does not meet the regulatory requirements, that means it's cheating clients, what should/could be done?
... See more Hello everyone,
I just wondered if a very small (translation) agency has the means to implement and maintain a Quality Management system according to ISO 9001 and ISO 17100.
As a former Quality Manager, Auditor and certification Project Manager, I have my idea, but I would like to get colleagues' opinions.
Next question: If an ISO-certified agency does not meet the regulatory requirements, that means it's cheating clients, what should/could be done?
Thank you very much for your contributions.
Kind regards,
Inge ▲ Collapse
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Speaking as a former certification manager and auditor (not for ISO directly, certain industry-specific schemes, but this certification stuff is more or less based on the basic ISO principles):
I think that you can apply ISO 9001 to any kind of business process, and regardless of a number of employees, so what would be different in your case? I'm not familiar with ISO 17001 but my guess it would be similarly applicable to anything, if it's a 'generic', not an industry/area-specific ... See more Speaking as a former certification manager and auditor (not for ISO directly, certain industry-specific schemes, but this certification stuff is more or less based on the basic ISO principles):
I think that you can apply ISO 9001 to any kind of business process, and regardless of a number of employees, so what would be different in your case? I'm not familiar with ISO 17001 but my guess it would be similarly applicable to anything, if it's a 'generic', not an industry/area-specific standard. However, I always look suspiciously at agencies boasting of ISO certification because for me it gives the impression that they just don't have anything else to sell. I strongly believe that there's absolutely NO way any kind of ISO (or other, for that matter) certification can guarantee the actual quality of translation. It cannnot and does not.
Wth this in mind, again, I do not see how their not complying with ISO standards can impact the actual quality of their translations, and if it does not, what is the point of 'doing anything' about it? If you still want to be serious about it, you can file a claim to the company and/or their certification body, providing evidence of non-compliance, and then there's a certain claim management procedure that they must have, etc. - you must know about these things. But still, I am missing the whole point of doing this.
[Редактировалось 2023-12-29 11:55 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Inge Schumacher
France
Local time: 09:09
Member (2023)
French to German
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | You're quite right :-) | Dec 29, 2023 |
As I mentioned before, I have been a QM, auditor and certification manager myself, and I know very well how this works:
Before a certification audit, the whole organization gets into a big buzz, putting everything in order for the BIG DAY. Once this is over, everything gets back to normal. This is what happens most of the time. Because, as you say so yourself, it's all about SELLING something. Once a company has its "label", people tend to forget, until the next certification.
... See more As I mentioned before, I have been a QM, auditor and certification manager myself, and I know very well how this works:
Before a certification audit, the whole organization gets into a big buzz, putting everything in order for the BIG DAY. Once this is over, everything gets back to normal. This is what happens most of the time. Because, as you say so yourself, it's all about SELLING something. Once a company has its "label", people tend to forget, until the next certification.
I don't know much about ISO 17100, I've been into ISO 9001.
The only thing I'm sure of is that a translation must always be checked/reviewed/proofread by a third-part linguist. And I'm also sure that a lot of "certified" agencies don't work in compliance with the relative standards => so, no, certification is not a guarantee for "good" quality.
For the rest, you're right! I was just angry after having had a very bad experience with one of those agencies! But now, I have decided to move on and just "forget" about this misadventure. There is so much more to life than just work! Anyway, I learnt my lesson and will surely be much more careful in the future when choosing new projects.
Kind regards,
Inge ▲ Collapse
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