DQS Knowledge Center: Demystifying Certification Terms and Processes

In the rapidly evolving landscape of data quality and management, understanding key terms and concepts is essential. This glossary serves as a comprehensive resource to demystify the terminology and jargon that surround everything certifications. Whether you are a seasoned data professional, a newcomer to the field, or anyone in between, this glossary is designed to provide clarity and insight into the world of DQS and certifications.

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What does a quality management representative do?

In everyday corporate life, those responsible for a quality management system are often referred to as quality management representatives. In the official texts of the quality management standard ISO 9001, however, only a "representative of the top management" is mentioned, not a quality management representative. And this only up to and including the ISO 9001:2008 version.

The current standard from 2015 assigns responsibility for the quality management system to top management more clearly and comprehensively than before. It is therefore only logical that ISO 9001:2015 no longer requires a representative of top management. Instead, the top management is now responsible for the management system.

What does compliance mean?

The English word compliance has Latin roots. In the context of business law, it means something like "adherence to rules" or "conformity to rules".

In relation to management system standards, compliance plays a central role. In this context, compliance can also be seen as the action of a company or organization to achieve conformity with a specification or a commitment entered into voluntarily, for example in relation to standards, laws or agreements. Non-conformity with such commitments is sometimes also referred to as "non-compliance" (a term from ISO 19011).

When the word compliance is used in other languages, however, care must be taken. For example, the internationally recognized ISO 9000 standard for principles and terms in quality management clarifies that the French word "compliance" cannot be used as a synonym for "conformity" (meeting a requirement).

What does Delta Audit mean?

Delta audits are performed with the intention of auditing management systems for the difference between the status quo and the (new) standard requirements.

The purpose is to identify possible need for action before, for example, a transition audit to a new standard or a certification audit is performed. Delta audits can be performed at any time and independently of regularly scheduled audits.

The delta audit is named after the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet "Delta" (∆). A term often used synonymously is gap analysis.

What does ISO and ISO standard mean?

The three letters ISO stand for the International Organization for Standardization, based in Geneva.

What is a gap analysis?

With a view to auditing or certification, a gap analysis is performed with the intention of assessing management systems for the delta (gap) between the status quo and a required target state, e.g. the requirements of a new standard. The gap analysis is usually used when a standard is revised or completely reissued.

Certification companies then offer their customers a gap analysis to determine the current status, which is compared on site with the requirements of the standard. The result of a gap analysis is used to determine which gaps still need to be closed in order to achieve the desired status. The identified weaknesses (deltas/gaps) are documented and must be closed by the company before the actual certification audit.

A term often used synonymously with gap analysis is delta audit. Delta audits are also a common procedure during the transition to a revised, updated version of the standard in order to better assess necessary resources and any action required for a successful transition to the new standard.

What is a heat map?

Heat maps are generally used to illustrate

measurements, for example heat images or distributions in population density maps or
evaluations, for example of the results of (effect) correlations, such as in hotspot analyses.

This form of graphical representation takes advantage of the fact that viewers intuitively associate increasing temperatures from cold to hot with certain color sequences, for example blue, green, yellow, orange and red. This can be interpreted in a further association step, depending on the context, for example as "increasing significance".

However, since different associations of colors with temperatures are possible depending on technical references or cultural groups, the colors should be directly assigned to the ratings in a legend. For example: Yellow = low significance, Orange = medium significance, Red = high significance.

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