WORLD ACCREDITATION DAY 2019: Adding value to supply chains

9 June 2019 marks World Accreditation Day as a global initiative, jointly established by the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) and the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC), to raise awareness of the importance of accreditation.

This year’s theme focuses on how accreditation provides added value to supply chains.

Supply chains provide a vital role in delivering products and services for consumers, business and the public sector in a timely, cost-efficient and quality manner. Accreditation and, with it, other quality infrastructure tools such as standards, metrology and conformity assessment, provide widely accepted tools that help deliver value to the supply chain. These tools help with trust and assurance, enabling confidence in both final products and services and the manner in which they are placed on the market and used.

To watch a video on World Accreditation Day 2019, #WAD2019

Source: https://ilac.org/news-and-events/world-accreditation-day-2019/

On this day want to focus on some definition like

Accreditation:

The action or process of officially recognizing someone as having a particular status or being qualified to perform a particular activity.

Certification:

The action or process of providing someone or something with an official document attesting to a status or level of achievement.

Above is a definition as per dictionary, but from the Quality Management System like ISO and Laboratory Management System, what is the difference, will be interesting to know:

It can be easily understood by taking example of ISO9001, Quality Management System (QMS) and ISO17027:2017, Laboratory Management System (LMS).

ISO 9001 is certified by certification body to organization for conformity of a product, process or service to specified requirements; here certification body is accredited by body like UKAS and others.

Whereas in case of ISO17025, laboratory is accredited by body like NABL, National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories in India for competence to work in LMS as per ISO17025 standard.

SO,

CERTIFICATION is a procedure by which a third party here certification body gives a written assurance that a product , process or services of an organization conforms to specified requirement i.e for example ISO 9001.

It assures the client that the organization has in place an effective quality or environmental management system.

And, does not confer technical credibility of the test results.

ACCREDTATION is a procedure by which an authoritative body like NABL in India gives formal recognition that a laboratory or person is competent to carry out specific tasks i.e. scope as per ISO17025.

It assures client that the procedures are technically valid.

And, recognizes the technical competence of laboratory staff.