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Zertifizierung für die Bahnindustrie IRIS – ISO 22163

Train standing in an industrial hall - symbolic image for safety and quality in the railway industry

IRIS – ISO 22163: All signals pointing to safety and quality

The liberalisation of industrial companies is subjecting the rail industry to profound change. And it is obvious that the demands on you as a company in the railway industry have become more stringent. Competition in the railway industry is getting tougher and tougher, so you need to prove the safety and quality of your products and processes.

IRIS Certification® is based on ISO 22163 and IRIS Certification® Performance Assessment. With ISO 22163 certification, you can confidently demonstrate to the world that your organisation is able to meet the quality demands of the industry. IRIS provides standardised quality management requirements, assessment guidelines and standardised audits. This makes it easier for you to assess and compare suppliers.

The main purpose of the standard is to make quality transparent and improve it along the entire supply chain.

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Target group

The target group for IRIS Certification® to ISO 22163 includes companies in the rail industry that need to demonstrate their safety and quality standards in the face of increasing competition and industry liberalisation. This certification is aimed at organisations that want to demonstrate their ability to meet the high quality demands of the rail vehicle industry and ensure transparency and improvement of quality along the entire supply chain.

What are the advantages of ISO 22163 certification?

  • Certified proof that the requirements of the rail vehicle industry are met
  • Increased quality standards in the organisation and along the entire supply chain
  • Improved market position
  • Greater brand awareness and increased competitiveness
  • Improved starting position for tenders
  • Can be combined with other QM system standards to save time and costs

  • Inclusion in the IRIS database, the supplier database of UNIFE (Union des Industries Ferroviaires Européennes), which contains detailed information on the certification results of all certified organisations and is used by many companies in the rail industry

     

Structure of ISO 22163

The IRIS certification structure has been revised in 2023. The new revision IRIS Certification® Rev.04 will be applicable from 1 April 2024.

The IRIS certification system "IRIS Certification® Rev.04" consists of three components - comparable to Rev.03:

  • ISO 22163:2023, consisting of the requirements of ISO 9001:2015 and the specific requirements of the railway industry
  • IRIS Certification® Performance Assessment 2023 (certification rules) and
  • IRIS Certification® technology (audit tool, portal and database)

IRIS-certified companies can be awarded three quality performance levels (bronze, silver, gold) depending on their performance.

The audit process for certification according to IRIS - ISO 22163

1

Step 01

Enquiry, offer preparation & explanation

2

Step 02

Commissioning & individual scheduling

3

Step 03

Audit: Understanding the organisation & determining readiness for certification

4

Step 04

Identifying potential for improvement

5

Step 05

Fast four-eye check & certificate creation

6

Step 06

External TÜV certificate

7

Step 07

Continuous further development of the management system & competitiveness

Frequently asked questions

FAQ about IRIS - ISO 22163

The standard owner of ISO 22163:2023 is ISO. The standard includes the requirements of the ISO 9001:2015 standard and additional railway-specific requirements.

The owner of IRIS Certification® Performance Assessment:2023 is UNIFE (Union des Industries Ferroviaires Européennes). These certification rules include all relevant rules regarding the assessment methodology and the certification process.

The following steps are necessary to obtain the IRIS Certification® certificate:

  1. Preparation for certification through a telephone or face-to-face information meeting and a pre-audit.
  2. Readiness assessment and certification audit at your site. The last day of the certification audit always serves as a reference date for subsequent audits.
  3. Documentation of the audit and evaluation of the findings and the management system using the "IRIS Audit Tool" software.
  4. After successful certification, you will receive a certificate registered with UNIFE by TÜV NORD CERT with a validity of three years and you will be included in the UNIFE supplier database ("IRIS database").
  5. Surveillance audits take place annually, but no later than one month before the reference date, to ensure that you continue to fulfil the requirements of the standard.
  6. The recertification audit takes place no later than one month before the reference date three years after certification. The renewed IRIS certificate is issued before the previous IRIS certificate expires.
  7. The quality performance levels (bronze, silver, gold) are awarded by the IRIS Management Centre according to the defined criteria of the IRIS Certification® Performance Assessment.

The railway-specific standard for quality management systems is applicable to companies that work for the railway industry in the areas of design and development and/or production and service provision and/or purchasing of products, processes and services (EPPPS) as well as project management and requirements management. Relevant business areas for the railway industry are rail vehicle technology, signalling technology, infrastructure, maintenance, distribution, turnkey units as well as testing and tools.

IRIS stands for International Railway Industry Standard. ISO 22163 emerged from this set of rules.

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