Trust. Whether business or personal, trust is the foundation for a rewarding relationship. In a business relationship, trust can be earned over time, but there are inevitably going to be times when you need to work with someone new. How can you quickly gain the same confidence and trust? One of the best ways is to look at independent certifications and accreditations held by the target business. In the world of testing, for example, this would present as accreditation to ISO standards.
What is ISO?
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is a global network of national standards bodies (ISO members are the foremost standards organizations in each country). It prepares and publishes standards that are accepted worldwide as the benchmark for the operation of management systems that lead to the generation of technically valid results. ISO publishes standards for the operation of test laboratories, inspection bodies, and certification bodies, among others.
Accreditation bodies are independent organizations that assess companies like GLI for conformity to an ISO standard(s), and grants accreditation if conformity is confirmed. GLI currently holds accreditations to ISO standards for testing (ISO 17025), field inspections (ISO 17020), product certifications (ISO 17065), and certification of information security management systems (ISO 17021-1). Because GLI is accountable to the accreditation bodies that grant accreditation, we must continually evaluate our management system for conformity to the ISO requirements on a global basis and implement improvements when identified.
Why is GLI accredited?
In 2006, GLI became the first independent gaming test laboratory to achieve ISO 17025 accreditation, which was long before any type of accreditation was required by any regulatory body. In other words, GLI voluntarily undertook efforts to secure ISO accreditation. We felt it was important to hold ourselves to a higher standard as industry leaders. Being the first to attain ISO accreditation demonstrated our commitment to quality in a tangible way, underscored our core value of “quality” as a company, and has created a culture of accountability at every level of the organization.
The accreditation process we began in 2006 now encompasses a global network that includes 22 test labs; eight inspection bodies; and six certification bodies in the gaming, voting, health care IT, and cybersecurity industries.
How do GLI’s ISO accreditations benefit our customers?
All GLI test laboratories are accredited and operate under the same management system requirements, including the same policies and procedures, test methods, and infrastructure. This means that test results generated by GLI are comparable regardless of the location of the test lab. This allows GLI to operate with agility and provide customers with value and flexibility while maintaining consistently high quality. This is just one example of the positive impact of the accreditation for our customers, but it is one of the most crucial.
Because of our ISO accreditations, we can confidently say that a submission to GLI is a submission to one cohesive testing lab. It’s the measure of consistency on a global basis and establishes that all-too-important element in a business relationship: trust.
Mark J. Mensik
GLI’s Director, Global QMS
