According to the 2008 Small Business Economy report, there are 27 million small businesses in the US, providing half of the nation’s non-farm, private real gross domestic product (GDP). These small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) face tough operating challenges, particularly in difficult economic times, and quality management is essential to increase bottom-line results, save money and manage risks. ISO 9001 is the most well-known and widely followed quality management standard, and certification to this standard is often a prerequisite before small companies can get the contract to act as a partner or supplier. However, it is complicated, time-consuming and expensive to understand and implement the changes required to achieve certification, and this is a particular burden on small companies with less money to invest in such activity, fewer staff and less chance that the task of quality management will fall to a quality expert. This established book, now in its fourth edition, provides step-by-step, prescriptive guidance, tailored to the non-quality specialist, on how to approach quality management and certification to ISO 9001 in a cost and time effective way. It enables small businesses to reap the benefits of ISO 9001 certification with minimum effort and paperwork, and without the need for expensive consultancy or training that takes employees out of the office.

Small businesses face many challenges today, including the increasing demand by larger companies for ISO 9001compliance, a challenging task for any organisation and in particular for a small business without quality assurance experts on its payroll. Ray Tricker has already guided hundreds of businesses through to ISO accreditation, and this sixth edition of his life-saving ISO guide provides all you need to meet the new 2015 standards. ISO 9001:2015 for Small Businesses helps you understand what the new standard is all about and how to achieve compliance in a cost effective way. Covering all the major changes to the standards, this book provides direct, accessible and straightforward guidance. This edition includes: down-to-earth explanations to help you determine what you need to enable you to work in compliance with and/or achieve certification to ISO 9001:2015; a contextual explanation of ISO 9001 within the structure of ISO 9000 family of standards; a detailed description of the structure of ISO 9001:2015 and its compliance with Annex SL; coverage of the new requirements for Risk Management and Risk Analysis; a guide to the costs involved in implementing ISO 9001:2015 and advice on how to control costs; an example of a complete, generic Quality Management System consisting of a Quality Manual plus a whole host of Quality Processes, Quality Procedures and Word Instructions; and access to a free, software copy of these generic QMS files to give you a starting point from which to develop your own documentation. This book is also supported with a complete bibliography containing abbreviations and acronyms as well as a glossary of terms. This comprehensive text will provide you and your small business with a complete guide on your way to ISO compliance.

Best-selling author James L. Lamprecht's newest book is geared to those small to medium-sized businesses seeking to obtain ISO 9000 registration. Written especially for readers with little or no ISO 9000 experience, Lamprecht shows how the ISO 9000 series standards can be effectively implemented and maintained without spending large sums of money or increasing staff. Filled with practical advice, this two-part book gives the reader a review and explanation of the ISO 9000 series, then provides several chapters that illustrate how various quality tools and techniques can be used to implement the requirements of the standards. Guidelines for creating a quality manual are also included.

Dynamic Asia has overtaken the European Union as Latin America and the Caribbean's second largest export market, after the United States. However, the region's exports to Asia remain concentrated in few commodities involved a small number of large firms. This book explores the present and future scope for the participation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in biregional trade and value chains and the measures that can be taken to make those chains more inclusive and sustainable. It encourages governments in Latin America to improve the business environment in order to encourage multinational firms to invest, upgrade and innovate in the region.