Comprehensive Analysis: ISO Certification in Singapore's Market

This report delves into the significance of ISO certification within the Singaporean market, analyzing its historical evolution and impact across diverse sectors. It highlights the importance of quality management and the adoption of ISO standards, particularly ISO 9001 and ISO 14001, in enhancing business performance and meeting regulatory requirements. The report explores the application of ISO certification in key industries such as manufacturing, logistics, and construction, emphasizing its role in improving product quality, process efficiency, and supply chain security. It also discusses the adoption of Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM) and the role of ISO 27001 in securing sensitive information. By examining the various schemes and their influence, the report aims to provide insights into the benefits of ISO certification for companies operating in Singapore's competitive economic environment. The report concludes with a discussion of research gaps and future scope, offering recommendations for further investigation into the evolution and impact of ISO standards.

Running head: ISO CERTIFICATION IN SINGAPORE
ISO Certification in Singapore
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1ISO CERTIFICATION IN SINGAPORE
Abstract
The study seeks to clarify the role of ISO certification in the industry along with a special
emphasis on the market of Singapore. The quality management is very important for all types
of products produced in the country. There are different types of ISO certification which are
used by the companies. It is stated that ISO certification is referred to as the international
standards that identifies the needs for a quality management system (QMS) and all the
organizations use the standards specified by the ISO standardization authority to provide
products and services. the ISO certification also allows meeting the regulatory requirements
of the government as well. In this regard, it can be stated that the most popular standards is
ISO 9001 and it is in the ISO 9000 series. Moreover, it can be stated that the ISO 9001 was
first published in the year of 1987 by the International Organization and Standardization
(ISO) and the current version of the ISO 9001 was published in September 2015. Quality
management (QM) and environmental management (EM) are primarily business practices
and all of them help the companies in a positive manner. Hence, implementing the QM in an
effective manner by using the ISO certification can impact the performances of the
organizations positively as well. In case of Singapore, it is stated that it is one of the most
competitive economies in the world and the country has observed a huge growth in terms of
the economy of the country in last two decades. The eight prime principles of quality
management were used to design ISO where 9000 and 9001 have identified as most
prevalent, widely known and widely accepted compared to any ISO certification that was
published and Singapore is no exception of it. One of the prime reasons can be the
development of ISO which provided certification to a range of firms. The common equipment
industry in Singapore includes electronics, chemicals, financial services, oil drilling
equipment, petroleum refining, rubber processing equipment, processed food and beverages

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equipment’s, ship repair, offshore platform construction and medical equipment. The logistic
industry of the country seeks to adopt the best practices in the country in order to supply the
best quality products to the consumers. In the Singapore, it is stated that Singapore develops
supply chain security as a part of the logistic ISO certification the country has created a
healthy IT platform by using ISO27001 certification. While assessing the conditions of the
third party logistics, it can be stated that the Singapore holds the 21st position out of top 25
countries in the world. The organisations which are engaged in the logistic business are
associated with the emission of greenhouse gases in the environment during the logistic
process. Therefore, as a consequence of this problem, the manufacturing companies are
opting for Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM). The ISO certification process is
equally crucial for the construction industry as well and in various studies, the importance of
the ISO certification system is identified in multiple literatures as well. In this regard, it can
be stated that the quality management system is one of the widely adopted and implemented
issues in the construction industry. Therefore, it can be stated that the implementation of
ISO9000 in the construction industry is very important as it can effectively handle various
type of critical issues that can help the entire organization.

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Table of Contents
Chapter I.....................................................................................................................................5
Introduction............................................................................................................................5
Aims of the Study...................................................................................................................8
Chapter two outline:...................................................................................................................8
Chapter Two...............................................................................................................................9
Review of Literature..............................................................................................................9
History and evolution:................................................................................................................9
ISO certification in equipment:............................................................................................11
ISO Certification in Logistics..............................................................................................15
ISO Certification in Construction Industry..........................................................................19
Research Gaps and Future Scope.........................................................................................22

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List of Figures
Fig.1 : ISO certification in Malyasia............................................................................... 25
Fig.2 : Importance of ISO certification in Quality Management.................................... 26
Fig.3 : Green Supply Chain Management .......................................................................27

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Chapter I
Introduction
Over the years, the use of ISO certification is used by the companies as a part of the
quality improvement of the products manufactured by the different companies, the ISO
certification process is used. Therefore, the quality management is very important for all
types of products produced in the country. There are different types of ISO certification
which are used by the companies. It is stated that ISO certification is referred to as the
international standards that identifies the needs for a quality management system (QMS) and
all the organizations use the standards specified by the ISO standardization authority to
provide products and services. Therefore, it can be stated that the use of ISO standardization
also helps the companies to meet the needs of the customers and along with this, it is reported
that the ISO certification also allows meeting the regulatory requirements of the government
as well. In this regard, it can be stated that the most popular standards is ISO 9001 and it is in
the ISO 9000 series. Moreover, it can be stated that the ISO 9001 was first published in the
year of 1987 by the International Organization and Standardization (ISO) and the current
version of the ISO 9001 was published in September 2015 (Heinzle et al., 2013). Quality
management (QM) and environmental management (EM) are primarily business practices
and all of them help the companies in a positive manner. Hence, implementing the QM in an
effective manner by using the ISO certification can impact the performances of the
organizations positively as well. The companies that use QM mainly focus on enhancing the
value for their customers and thereby the levels of the customer satisfaction are also
enhanced.

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The continuous improvement of the processes and quality of the products lead to
enhanced revenues of the companies who are using this ISO certification as the continuous
improvement of the product quality will also enhance the product reliability and so the more
number of people are buying the particular products (Joseph & Ikau, 2018). According to the
study of Kirchoff, Tate, Mollenkopf (2016), it is stated that the enhanced product quality and
enhancement of the process efficiency also reduce the production costs of the products
produced by the company. Therefore, it can be stated that the reduction in the production
costs by improving the quality of the products and related processes through ISO certification
also contributes to the overall revenue generation by the company itself. As a consequence of
this enhanced revenue generation, the company using proper ISO certification technique also
gains competitive advantages to the companies as well and along with this it can be stated
that EM also positively affects performances of the companies positively and so positive
effect results from the positive effect on the companies costs and revenues.
In this regard, it can be stated that the management system standards (MSSs) have
enjoyed huge success for last years through using the QM system (ISO 9001) and along with
this another important QM is ISO 14001 used by the companies. While discussing about the
appearance of the MSS in the perspective of QM in the industry, it can be stated that the first
quality assessment of ISO certification is ISO 8402 and this certification allows the products
to maintain the quality of the products. According to the study of Heras‐Saizarbitoria and
Boiral (2013), it is stated that the at the end of 2010, almost 1.109.905 ISO 9001 certificates
were given to the different companies of 178 counties of different parts of the world and this
number is almost thrice of the number of certification issued at the end of 2000. Therefore,
the success of ISO 9000 standards, another standardization certificate that is ISO 14000 is
issued and it is mainly associated with the environmental issues related the manufacturing

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process of the companies. Along with the success of ISO 9000, over the last 10 year the ISO
14000 also has a huge level of success and this certification also has seen a huge growth in
different countries of the world. It is stated that the ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 are not at all the
performance standards measuring the quality of the products produced by the companies in
the different counties of the world. Basically this certification system is mainly used to set the
standards to systemize and formalize a large numbers of corporate processes along with the
document implementation (Lushi et al., 2016). In case of Singapore, it is stated that it is one
of the most competitive economies in the world and the country has observed a huge growth
in terms of the economy of the country in last two decades. Hence, it can be stated that the
companies of this country should follow the international standards in order to maintain the
quality of the products. Therefore, it is stated that the country is one of the safest place to start
a new business in paving way for ISO certification in the country. This opinion is appreciated
by the business experts around the worlds just due to the implementation of various policies
by the Singapore Government to enable fast track growth of the economy of the company by
encouraging the adoption of international standards like ISO certification in the country.
The ease of performing the business in the country has made the country a popular
destination for the different companies to provide quality products and facilities with the help
of ISO standards such as ISO 9001 certification in Singapore. It is stated that the
manufacturing industry in the country is the largest industry as it contributes to almost 20 to
25 per cent of the country’s annual GDP growth. Therefore, it can be stated that the ISO
certification standards like ISO ISO14001 certification in Singapore, 9001 certification in
Singapore and ISO 45001 certification in Singapore help the industry to perform in a better
manner. Not only in the manufacturing industry, in various other industries such as logistic
industries and construction industries the ISO certifications are also important. However, it is

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also stated that the financial service industries also requires to follow the ISO certifications
standards such as ISO 27001 certification in Singapore is generally used to shield sensitive
information in the country (Pang & Lim 2015).
Aims of the Study
The main aim of the study is to study common ISO certification schemes prevalent in
Singapore.
Chapter two outline:
This project aims to study common ISO certification schemes prevalent in Singapore.
Many industrial organizations that offer their goods and services have complied with ISO
standard. Chapter Two initially provides a general introduction to the history of ISO and
development of ISO 9000 and then concentrated more on the common schemes used in
Singapore. The summative overview of the principles along with common schemes used in
Singapore was discussed in the latter part of the chapter. The literature of the chapter will be
divided into three subsections such as common schemes of ISO in the equipment industry,
common schemes ISO in logistic industry and common schemes of ISO in the construction
industry. Lastly, the chapter will provide a brief idea of the literature gap along with the
limitation of the study. The future recommendations for the research will also be provided for
enabling future researchers to involve in the extensive research regarding the schemes and
improve quality management.

9ISO CERTIFICATION IN SINGAPORE
Chapter Two.
Review of Literature
History and evolution:
For organizations to meet the standard for improving quality of the product along with
consistency to meet the expectations of the clients, ISO certification is considered as one of
the suitable means that addressees a range of aspects of quality management. Considering the
history of the ISO, Brotons and Sansalvador (2016), suggested that the International
Organization for Standardization or ISO first discovered on 23 February 1947 when the
organization promoted worldwide property, industry and commercial standard. While it was
suspended in 1942 during World War II after the war ISA was approached by Nations
Standards Coordinating Committee (UNSCC) for developing a global standard which will
not only shape the practices of the organizations around the globe but also improve a range of
aspect of quality management around the globe (Chiarini, 2019).
The development of ISO changed the revenue of international market and increased
competition of the international market. Consequently, businesses and organizations started
recognizing the importance of adopting TQM for improved overall performance and
improved quality program (Lahidji & Tucker, 2016). Similar to other economically
flourished countries, Singapore also experienced huge growth after implementing the
International Organization for Standardization as a global standard (Chivandi & Maziriri,
2017). The standard is generic in nature can be applied in any manufactured and services for
enhancing quality management process and performance of the organization. The eight prime
principles of quality management were used to design ISO where 9000 and 9001 have

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identified as most prevalent, widely known and widely accepted compared to any ISO
certification that was published and Singapore is no exception of it. The eight most widely
known principles include customer focus, the involvement of people, process approach for
quality management of the business, management system approach, continual improvement,
factual approach to the decision making and relationship of the supplier.
Therefore, these eight principles are most crucial to consider while developing the
International Organization for Standardization was used. Three common languages are used
officially for providing the best understanding of the quality such as English, French and
Russian. It is usually funded by the combination of organizations that are involved in the
management of specific projects to participate in the technical work, subscription from
member bodies, trade figures and gross national product each country and sale of standard. It
is suggested that the common schemes that are followed by the industries in the Singapore
are BCA ISO 9000 certification which was launched in 1991. The objective of the schemes is
to promote the adoption of international quality management system standards in Singapore
industry, especially the construction industry.
As per the recent report of the quality management of the industries in the Singapore,
more than 200 firms in the agricultural, construction, property, engineering, building
materials, equipment industry and the related arena have been certified according to this
scheme. To promote quality management the scheme uses eight principles of quality
management as a philosophy where the mission of the scheme is to provide impartial
certification and highly professionals services to the firms within the industry which will lead
to the achievement of the compliance with the relevant requirement of ISO 14000, ISO 9000,
SMC standards. While schemes usually open to the construction industry such as quantity

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survivor, consulting engineers and Concrete-related product manufacturers and suppliers, the
schemes also developed for logistic industry and equipment industry.
ISO certification in equipment:
Similar to construction and logistic industry, the equipment industry of Singapore has
been recognized as an effective means of gaining huge economic enhancement. One of the
prime reasons can be the development of ISO which provided certification to a range of
firms. The common equipment industry in Singapore includes electronics, chemicals,
financial services, oil drilling equipment, petroleum refining, rubber processing equipment,
processed food and beverages equipment’s, ship repair, offshore platform construction and
medical equipment. Yalcinkaya et al. (2016), conducted a literature review on the ISO
scheme for Advertising Equipment Vibrating Knife Cutting Machine in Singapore. The result
of the study suggested the common schemes for the equipment industry, especially Vibrating
Knife Cutting Machine is to develop a product that can meet the expectations of the
customers, achieve the professional scope of services, manage the conflict of interest and
ensure the objectivity of the management.
The researchers suggested that according to the present four kinds of digital cutting
machines which are certified by ISO. These four knives successfully met the standards of
ISO and criteria of schemes since these vibrating digital knives save labour and material cost,
user-friendly, boost the capacity of the product, reduces lead time for cutting the pattern from
clients. The continuous improvement was observed due to the innovative techniques as it uses
oscillating Blade with multifunctional tool heads to save times. However, the granting social
licence to operate is considered as the challenge. The limitation of the research is that the
research mostly focused on equipment characteristics rather than schemes for the industry.