Good quality management practices are vital for companies to improve the quality of their services. For more than one and a half years now, UCBP has been supporting companies in the construction sector to implement the world’s most important quality management system: ISO 9001:2000 (link to page containing next paragraph).
ISO 9001:2000 is a set of standards and guidelines established by the International Organization for Standardization- the worlds’ largest developer of standards. Implementing these quality management standards helps to improve companies’ management and effective organization, to lower costs and work faster. Since the ISO 9001:2000 certificate shows that the company takes a systematic approach to quality management, many clients see it as a proof that they will receive products or services that satisfy their expectations. Every company, independent of size and sector, can implement ISO 9001:2000 standards; however, the certificates can only be issued by independent certification bodies.
The improvements through quality management do not only strengthen the business of the certified companies but also Ethiopia’s economy.
So far, UCBP’s ISO experts have trained more than 1500 people throughout Ethiopia- not only in the rather big partner companies in Addis Ababa but also on construction sites and in small enterprises in rural areas.
Currently 22 companies have achieved ISO 9001:2000 certificates. This enables the companies to be competitive in the international construction market.