4 Less-known Certifications Meant for Management of Critical Industries

Feb 3
17:01

2021

Alex Afford

Alex Afford

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This article will give an analysis of a few uncommon or less-known certifications that will validate the management systems in crucial industries, such as defense or medical devices.

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There are certifications or standards for almost every industry that helps them improve their products,4 Less-known Certifications Meant for Management of Critical Industries Articles services, operations, and stakeholders. These standards are usually internationally accepted, and each establishes certain principles or regulations for organizations to ensure quality, reliability, and recognition. Several generic standards also exist, such as ISO 9001 for quality management, ISO 14001 standard for environmental impact management, and ISO 45001 for workplace safety management, all of which apply to most businesses. However, there are other important certifications, like AS9100, TL 9000, or CMMC certification, which exist to validate the management framework for specific industries. This article will discuss some of the less-known certifications and their importance in their concerned industry.

AS9100 Certification

This certification applies to aerospace parts and product manufacturers. These products are used to support services regarding civil and military interests, such as aviation, space research, and defense. Therefore, they must follow quality and safety requirements. The AS9100 standard is designed to provide regulations and conditions for the quality management system (QMS) that aerospace manufacturers need to abide by to maintain the quality of their products, ensure safe performance, and improve their reliability. Any manufacturer or organization in the aerospace industry that develops parts or products, assembles components, provides related services, or supplies materials or equipment for manufacturing companies needs this certification. Key benefits of achieving certification include improved stakeholder reliance, higher client satisfaction, and more opportunities to win contracts with international aviation, space, and defense organizations.

ISO 13485 Certification

ISO 13485 certification Is the international validation of a quality management framework for all manufacturers of medical devices or equipment. Obtaining it will ensure that every device or equipment produced for medical services meets the esteemed quality standards and regulatory compliance of the medical industry and caters to every need of customers. It is a valuable credential that consumers of medical products, such as healthcare centers, clinics, medical professionals, and researchers, look for while buying them. Moreover, ISO 13485 is completely quality-focused as it is based on the ISO 9001 quality standard and calls for manufacturers to have a concrete QMS, a stable risk assessment and control policy, validated products and processes, and compliance with the industry’s regulatory guidelines.

TL 9000 Certification

TL 9000 certification is meant to establish the QMS in telecommunication service providers and help them deliver quality services. This specific standard defines the guidelines and regulations for forming a rigorous QMS that will help monitor and enhance their information and communication services. Since information and communication technology or ICT services are a part of every business today, a telecom service provider that gets TL 9000 accreditation to benchmark its quality services will be able to get more business contracts or clients. Apart from that, several advantages come with this certification, such as increased reliability of clients, process efficiency and speedy delivery of services, reduced operational costs, and improved stakeholder confidence.

CMMC Certification

The Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification or CMMC is a critical unified certification needed to assure cybersecurity for companies in the defense supply line, or Department of Defense (DoD) contractors. CMMC certification is a recently developed validation benchmark designed for contractors to ensure that they follow all necessary information and cybersecurity practices. With a vast number of organizations operating together as a part of the defense industrial supply chain, data exploitation or privacy infringement in one can disrupt the functioning of the entire supply chain. It is hence essential for each contractor to get their information security practices, data processing mechanisms, and cybersecurity models up to date with quality standards. CMMC certification specifies the regulatory requirements for all contractors, which proves their competence in ensuring cybersecurity to the DoD. CMMC categorizes 5 levels of certification depending on the cybersecurity practices needed by different DoD contractors. The levels vary from basic (level 1) to advanced (level 5) certification, each higher level requiring the implementation of more practices.

In Conclusion

So, these were a few important yet rarely recognized certifications that are meant to verify the quality and performance of some industries. However, as these certifications are designed for quality assurance of essential and complex services or products, the organizations need to comply with important requirements, guidelines, or codes of practices. They need professional consultation, training implementation assistance, and auditing services to smoothly obtain certification.