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ISO 9001; 2015 - Subsidiary Company

Discussion in 'ISO 9001:2015 - Quality Management Systems' started by Nacho Varga, Mar 23, 2023.

  1. Nacho Varga

    Nacho Varga New Member

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    Hi all
    Newbie so be gentle plse...

    I am helping out a new company to establish its Quality protocols, i.e. reviewing existing QMS, establish procedures, documentation, etc.
    This company is opening a new site / production unit, BUT they are a wholly owned subsidiary of a massive Global Group that already has a presence in the UK with established QMS' and multiple ISO 9001 Certifications. It seems that the UK operations (across circa 10-15 sites with very diverse functions and multiple subsidiary companies) are divided into 3 or 4 different ISO 9001 Certifications with broadly similar activities and scopes, but without being identical! e.g. under one Certificate No. is Motor vehicle maintenance, Arboriculture activities (?) and traffic management...? I suspect that the different 9001 Certification is done per subsidiary company, regardless of company activities and scope.
    There is a push to now include this new subsidiary company within one of these existing ISO 9001 Certifications. However, the new Manager is not wholly convinced that this will successfully manage quality for the new subsidiary company and it will just get lost within the Group. So he has asked me to review how we can improve on that prospect and if separate certification is the way to go.
    There will inevitably be some cross over / shared resources with the Holding Group infrastructure, such as "Incident" managing software to create reports on performance, etc. Plus the Group Quality Policy will need adopting, etc.

    I appreciate this is a complex subject, but what are everyones thoughts on the options they face, how to do it, similar circumstances that members have faced, etc.

    Many Thanks
     
  2. Andy Nichols

    Andy Nichols Moderator Staff Member

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    You came to the right place, Nacho! Welcome.

    I'd suggest that this is exactly the right way to go. An individual certificate, of a QMS which utilizes corporate documentation is indeed possible. Having your own site be responsible for internal audits and management reviews, corrective actions etc is far more effective in my experience. You don't mention if the holding company uses one CAB or multiple providers, which might make a bit of difference - choose wisely if multiple providers. The last thing you want is some hapless CAB auditor coming along and blabbing on about "corporate umbrella certification" or some such non-sense...
     
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  3. Nacho Varga

    Nacho Varga New Member

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    Many thanks Andy.
    I’m not sure if they all use the same Bodies, still trying to find that kind of detail out.
    Will revert with more info., but appreciate the positive start
    Cheers
     
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  4. John C. Abnet

    John C. Abnet Well-Known Member

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    Consistent with the council you received from @Andy Nichols , I rarely see organizations gain the full benefit of a corporate scheme (group certificate), that they believe they will get. There is some reduction in third party audit hours, but (in my experience), can cause more benefit than good. However, having a common approach/quality management system CAN indeed be an improved method of managing/coordinating and improving standardization across an organization with multiple sites.

    The best approach I have experienced is...
    - a common and centrally overseen QMS in regard to macro common processes (management review, internal audits, control of nonconformance, management review, corrective action, continual improvement, etc..etc...) --- i.e.. the 'global' aspects of the QMS, and then....
    - 'local' (point of work documents and controls), and locally held certifications, specific to each site.

    Hope this helps.

    Be well.
     
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  5. Nacho Varga

    Nacho Varga New Member

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    Great stuff, thanks John
     
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