Nearly thirty years have passed since ISO management certification was introduced to Japan. The scheme has been widely adopted by Japanese companies and organizations as proof of quality and reliability and provides a framework and tools for continuous improvement. Starting from product quality control in the manufacturing industry, the ISO management system standards now cover a wide variety of industry sectors and several managerial aspects such as the environment, information security, and energy. The focus on auditing has also changed from conformity assessment and control of documents to performance effectiveness and contributions toward organizational objectives and targets. As globalization has progressed, the role and expectation of the ISO management systems have assumed increasing importance.

JIC Quality Assurance Ltd. (JICQA) was established in 1992 as the nation’s first private certification body in Japan under the aegis of the Japan Iron and Steel Federation. JICQA evolved from a small ISO 9000 working group of the Japan Inspection Co., Ltd. (JIC), then started with the five “Samurai” fellows who had transferred from major steel companies. JICQA was accredited as a certification body by an accreditation agency in the Netherlands, and later in Japan, and initiated the auditing and certification activities. Since then, JICQA has been a pioneer, issuing Japan’s first certificates of ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 27001 management systems. Now we cover the majority of industrial sectors from manufacturing to construction, food, and various service sectors while providing reliable auditing and certification for a wide range of ISO management system standards. In addition, we provide services such as Japanese Industrial Standards (JIS) product certification, greenhouse gas (GHG) emission verification, sustainability report assurance, and customized auditing upon request from customers.

The quality of products and services for companies and organizations has been improved through the use of ISO management systems. However, internal and external market environments are rapidly changing with increasing uncertainties. This is especially true for Japan and other developed countries that are strongly affected by rapidly falling birthrates and an aging population, the ongoing simultaneous growth of globalization and localization in the world, and changes in industrial structures and business models combined with advanced digital technologies. Japanese companies are now urged to increase their productivity continuously so that they can contribute toward achieving not only the growth of Japan’s economy and welfare but also the world’s sustainable development goals (SDGs). We endeavor to provide value to our customers and other stakeholders who always face various risks and opportunities thrown up by the markets and society.