Military Sealift Command's Headquarters announced its attainment of the ISO 9001:2015 QMS certification by the International Organization for Standardization having successfully fulfilled all the requirements for a Quality Management System (QMS), June 1.

ISO 9001:2015 QMS is an internationally recognized standard for quality management systems. It specifies the criteria to establish policies, processes and procedures required for the efficient planning and execution of the core business processes of an organization.

"Being certified to ISO 9001:2015 QMS means that MSC has obtained an internationally recognized level of excellence with its business model," said MSC's Director, Corporate Governance (N92) Beth Zukovsky, the lead for the headquarters' ISO 9001: 2015 certification effort. "This certification provides our partners assurance that when they work with MSC's headquarters, they will receive high quality service."

"MSC headquarters has gone through a number of significant changes over the last few years, including relocation from Washington D.C. to Norfolk and a command re-organization," said Zukovsky. "Considering the dynamic environment in which MSC's headquarters is managed, ISO 9001: 2015 QMS lays out the framework for the business policies and practices which are necessary to achieve our mission. The standard provides requirements that lead to a culture that is focused on the right things, is continuously improving, and is capable of making organizational changes in a controlled manner."

The 'ISO' in the certification title is from the Greek language and means 'equal.'

"The International Organization for Standardization has developed over 22,000 international standards, ranging from technology, business, aerospace and medical industries, that are recognized in 161 countries," said Zukovsky. "In order to attain certification, an organization must meet all of the minimum requirements of the standard. The standard provides industries and organizations the means to level the playing field in terms of determining excellence."

The International Organization for Standardization, based out of Geneva Switzerland, was first founded in 1926 to facilitate the coordination of industry standards through international unification. The organization was suspended during World War II but was reconvened in 1946 and officially stood back up in 1947.

"We require our operating companies to maintain certification so we have reasonable assurance that they have processes in place for safe operations to protect life, platforms, and equipment; are hiring employees with the appropriate training, experience, and skillset; and have security measures that protect privileged and critical information related to national security," said Zukovsky. "By obtaining the ISO 9001: 2015 QMS certification, our business partners will be confident that the MSC headquarters is managed at the same level of excellence that they are. We are 'walking the walk' so to speak in terms of requiring excellence and demonstrating a level of commitment to focus on our customers and continually improve the services we provide."

To earn the ISO 9001:2015 QMS certification, MSC was evaluated on seven key areas; context of the organization, leadership, planning, support, operation, performance evaluation, and improvement.

"A team of certified auditors from American Bureau of Shipping - Quality Evaluations (ABS-QE) audited randomly selected personnel from the MSC headquarters staff to verify that we had met all the criteria for the certification," said Zukovsky. "Based on the results, MSC headquarters has earned the ISO 9001: 2015 QMS certification, which is valid for three years."

To ensure the MSC headquarters maintains its certification through 2021, the command will be the subject of annual surveillance audits. When the auditors from ABS-QE return to headquarters for the annual surveillance audit, they will perform interviews with randomly selected staff members to determine continued compliance.

"The effort to obtain ISO 9001: 2015 QMS certification began with the consolidation of MSC's headquarters in Norfolk," said Zukovsky. "Earning this certification was a team effort from the headquarters staff. The certification initiative was led by our N9 team, and we achieved this accomplishment due to the support from the entire headquarters staff."

"Everyone that the auditor evaluated performed very well," added Zukovsky. "They demonstrated awareness of the certification initiative, an understanding of MSC's mission, a high level of mission focus, and an understanding of their role in the organization. This really was an 'all hands' achievement."
According to Zukovsky, other organizations that are ISO 9001: 2015 QMS certified include Federal Express, General Electric and Amazon Web Services.

"In order for our command to maintain its ISO 9001: 2015 QMS certification, it is important for the headquarters staff to maintain its culture of continuous improvement," concluded Zukovsky. "We also need to maintain our leadership and staff commitment, focus, and continue our efforts to mature our programs and processes. Most importantly, we cannot become stagnant. We must keep pushing forward and find innovative ways to improve the organization and the service we provide to our nation."

On the three-year anniversary of the certification, a full re-certification audit will be performed.


For more information, visit www.navy.mil, www.facebook.com/usnavy, or www.twitter.com/usnavy.

For more news from Military Sealift Command, visit www.navy.mil/.