Welcome back to the official Services Limited ISO18404:2015 blog, a weekly instalment of Lean/Six Sigma and ISO18404 knowledge right where and when you need it! Check back every Thursday for the latest blog.
In the blog this week, we will be revisiting a question that was posed to Professor Tony Bendell in our new ISO18404: Lean and Six Sigma Professionals group on LinkedIn, which you can join here and ask any questions you may have on the new International Standard.
This regarded the realistic timetable an organisation would be looking toward to be in a position to attain certification against the new International Standard. As you’d expect, it varies on case-by-case basis.
In general, it depends if they are already pursuing Lean (or 6 Sigma). If yes, and doing it well, then I reckon that they can do it in typically in 3-4 months building up records etc. Maybe 6 months to play safe. From scratch? - maybe 9 months. The sector scheme is going for approval through the PACS committee by UKAS in July. Professor Bendell expects that we will be seeing the first pilot certifications for organisations, and assessment of individuals, in the autumn. So, time to get cracking on preparation now.
If an organisation wanted to be among the first accredited, they should begin taking stock and building evidence as soon as possible. In the best-case scenario for an organisation who has pursued Lean and/or Six Sigma in the past and already has documentation and evidence as required in the standard, it could take them around 3-4 months; 6 months if they need to provide extra documentation.
If Lean and/or Six Sigma has already been pursued, but documentation and evidence hasn’t been recorded, it’s thought that a longer period of around 9 months would be reasonable.
Organisations that are just starting to use Lean and/or Six Sigma methodologies and therefore have no past evidence of related projects could be looking at around 2 years to build the practice and evidence as required in the new International Standard.