The relationship between industrial process maturity and quality certification

• We analyze the maturity and quality certification of ten Brazilian Companies.
• The ten companies are in the electronics, motorcycle and food industries.
• We examine the relationship between industrial maturity and quality certification.
• The certification process itself led to some improvements occurring over the years.
• Maturity level 2 (from low: 1 to high: 5) is enough to have ISO 9001 certification.

Companies seek quality certification but, depending on the maturity of their manufacturing processes, may not always able to obtain it or keep it in the long run. This article evaluates the correlation between ISO certification and product development process maturity. It addresses subjects related to the product development process, the maturity of this process and certification and then analyzes the maturity and quality certification of ten Brazilian companies in the electrical and electronics, motorcycle and food industries (two, three and five companies, respectively). Each company's level of maturity is identified and related to the status of the company's quality certification.