The Eastern Region of AIRIA successfully organized a highly informative webinar on "ISO 9001: Key Changes & Transition Guidance for Rubber Industries".
The webinar was conducted by Mr. Navneet Bithra, Head - Quality, Jindal Saw Gulf LLC, UAE, and a Chartered Quality Professional (CQP MCQI, UK). Mr. Bithra is a notable contributor to the ISO 9001:2025 Draft International Standard (DIS), particularly in areas focusing on climate change, digitalization, and organizational resilience. His extensive experience in aligning international standards with MSME capabilities added immense value to the session.
The webinar provided a comprehensive overview of the ISO 9001:2025 revision, covering its intent, scope, and significance for the rubber industries. Key highlights included:
- Evolution of ISO 9001 from 1987 to the upcoming 2025 version, incorporating ESG principles, digital transformation, and resilience building
- The role of ISO 9001:2025 in enabling access to B2B, B2C, and B2G markets
- Benefits such as enhanced customer trust, process discipline, product consistency, cost reduction, and export readiness
- Introduction of a 10 clause framework that supports integration with other standards like ISO 14001, ISO 45001, and ISO 50001, thus promoting Integrated Management Systems (IMS)
Mr. Bithra illustrated the applicability of ISO 9001:2025 to rubber manufacturing processes, such as compound consistency and batch traceability, energy and waste monitoring, digital testing and Statistical Process Control (SPC) integration, supply chain quality alignment. He also shared a practical example of the supplier audit context, focusing on a rubber gasket manufacturer.
He identified common gaps in MSME implementation of QMS, including: Weak leadership visibility in QMS, inadequate process linkages, limited risk-based thinking, and over-reliance on paper-based documentation
To address these, he shared a transition readiness checklist, which included: context review (including climate change), updated risk registers, linking ESG to business objectives, digital record-keeping training, and management review focusing on resilience and also touched upon the more involved role of stakeholders such as banks and investors in the new ISO 9001 DIS.
The session attracted participation from 65+ AIRIA members across India and was aimed at supporting MSME rubber manufacturers in navigating the upcoming changes in the ISO 9001:2025 standard.