1. Project Planning
a. Plan and Establish Project Activities & Milestones. A typical project may resemble the following:
i. Gap Assessment,
ii. QMS Documentation Creation,
iii. QMS Documentation Review & Approval,
iv. QMS Documentation Release,
v. QMS Training,
vi. QMS Implementation & Collection of Records,
vii. QMS Internal Audit,
viii. QMS Management Review,
ix. Selection of Certification Body (CB) Registrar,
x. Submission of Required QMS information and documentation required by the CB Registrar,
xi. Scheduling of:
1. Certification Body Registrar Pre-Assessment (Optional),
2. Certification Body Stage 1 Audit,
3. Certification Body Stage 2 Audit,
xii. Perform Corrective Action for any nonconformances identified by the CB Registrar Auditor,
xiii. Achieve Certification.
b. Establish a project schedule
i. You will need to decide when you would like to achieve certification. Achieving certification can often take companies 6-18 months to achieve, depending on the size and complexity of the company, knowledge and understanding of requirements, personnel and time commitments to the project, and time needed to implement and collect records.
ii. Project the amount of time needed for each project activity & milestone. Provide resources, where needed to stay on schedule.
c. Determining the Resources Needed for the Project.
i. Just like with any other project, the more resources committed to the project, the faster it will likely be completed. Understanding the project activities, milestones and target completion date will help you determine the resources and time needed for a successful project.