Quality Standards, Certifications and Accreditation

Quality Standards and Definitions

Standards: UNE-EN ISO 9000 defines quality as the degree to which a set of inherent characteristics fulfills the needs or expectations established, generally implied or obligatory.

W. Edwards Deming: quality is meeting customer needs and expectations. Philip Crosby: quality is defined as conformance to requirements, not necessarily excellence. Quality is established within a customer–supplier relationship: initial measures indicate whether a product or service meets needs and specifications. Quality does not mean that everything is perfect; it means the product or service meets the acceptable levels set by clients.

AENOR and Its Activities

AENOR (Spanish Association for Standardization and Certification) emerged as an initiative of private industry and was recognized by the Ministry of Industry. Among the work carried out are:

• Elaboration of UNE (Spanish) technical standards and participation in ISO and CEN.
• Certification of products, companies and services.
• Diffusion of a quality culture — organization of courses and seminars.

AENOR was accredited by ENAC (National Accreditation Body), ensuring that it meets the requirements and properly develops its activities.

RELAY: Testing Laboratory Network

RELAY (Spanish Network of Testing Laboratories) was created with the objectives of promoting coordination and the management of accreditation systems for testing laboratories.

AENICRE: Inspection Agencies and Control

AENICRE (Association for Inspection Agencies and Regulatory Control): its function is to regulate and control inspection activities required by various regulations regarding safety equipment and industrial plant products. These activities are mainly carried out privately and independently and are recognized by the government.

Certification Companies and Processes

Certification company:

• Registration: For certification, a company must undergo a series of examinations or external audits performed by an impartial body.
• Service certification: The certification of client services by the provider ensures compliance with certain requirements that make the company and its brand more competitive.
• Environmental management: Ensures that companies have an environmental policy that minimizes emissions, waste, energy and raw material consumption and encourages the use of green technologies.

Certifications for Products

Types of product certifications include:

• Product brand certificate: To obtain this certification there must be a rule that dictates the characteristics to which the product must conform. If the product meets the specified standards, the corresponding mark is granted.
• CE mark: Indicates that a product complies with relevant EU directives; these directives are applied and transposed into national legislation by each Member State.
• Environmental label / eco-label: Awarded to products that, during their life cycle, have a lower impact on the environment. The eco-label is given to some products based on their certified environmental performance (etiqueta ecológica).
• Original software management: A certificate that demonstrates the company owns the rights associated with particular software, thus reducing the risk of damage from third-party misuse.

Notes

All the above contributes to a system where standardization, certification and accreditation work together to ensure quality, safety and environmental responsibility in products and services.