ISO 37001 · Manufacturing
ISO 37001 for manufacturing: certificate online
Customers and tender documents increasingly ask manufacturers to show that they control bribery risk in sales, purchasing and export. ISO 37001 is the standard they refer to. With Zertify you answer an online self-assessment and receive the certificate within 4 hours of passing and payment.
01: Demand
Why do customers ask manufacturers for ISO 37001?
Manufacturers sell through purchasing departments, distributors and agents. Each of these is a point where a payment can be questioned. Large customers pass that concern down the supply chain, and a supplier questionnaire is where it usually arrives. ISO 37001 is a short, checkable answer to the anti-bribery question in it.
Tenders work the same way. A plant that supplies machinery, components or equipment to a municipality, a utility or a state-owned operator may find an anti-bribery requirement in the bid documents. Export orders add a further question: who represents you in the target market, and how are they paid?
The certificate does not claim that no bribe was ever offered. It shows that you assessed the risk, set rules, assigned responsibility and check that the rules are followed. That is what a purchasing department or a customer audit looks for.
02: Risks
Where does bribery risk arise in a manufacturing company?
The risk rarely sits in one place. It follows the contacts your staff have with outsiders who can decide about money, approvals or orders. These are the situations a risk assessment for a plant usually has to cover.
- Sales agents and distributors
- A commission goes to an intermediary in an export market, and part of it may reach an employee of the buyer.
- Purchasing
- A supplier of raw material or components offers a gift or a favour to a buyer in order to win a frame contract.
- Customs and permits
- A payment is requested to speed up the clearance of a machine shipment or the permit for a new production line.
- Gifts and hospitality
- A customer delegation visits the plant, and the programme grows from a factory tour into a weekend at your expense.
- Acceptance tests and inspections
- A representative of the customer attends the factory acceptance test, and a favour could influence the outcome.
- Subcontractors and contract manufacturers
- A partner acts on your behalf towards a customer or authority, and you carry the consequences of what it does.
03: Requirements
What ISO 37001 requires and how a plant meets it
The standard follows the usual management system structure, from context and leadership to operation and improvement. For a manufacturer, the requirements translate into routines that mostly exist already in some form.
| Requirement | Example in a manufacturing company |
|---|---|
| Bribery risk assessment, updated regularly | A table of sales regions, agents, customers and permits, rated by exposure, reviewed once a year and after entering a new market |
| Anti-bribery policy, communicated | A two-page policy signed by the managing director, given to sales, purchasing and logistics, and attached to agent contracts |
| Independent compliance function | The head of finance or quality, with direct access to the managing director and the authority to stop a deal |
| Due diligence on transactions and partners | A file for every new agent or distributor: ownership, references, commission logic, signed declaration |
| Financial and non-financial controls | Two signatures for commissions, a gift and hospitality register, rotation of buyers on large frame contracts |
| Reporting channel with protection | An external mailbox or ombudsperson that employees and suppliers can reach without going through their manager |
04: Practice
How a mid-sized manufacturer builds the system
A company with 40 or 400 employees does not need a compliance department. It needs a short sequence of decisions, taken in this order.
List the exposed processes
Go through sales, purchasing, shipping, customs, site permits and acceptance tests. Note who deals with outsiders in each and what they can grant or receive.
Write the policy and hand it out
Keep it short and concrete: what gifts are allowed up to which value, what is never allowed, whom to ask. Staff and agents confirm receipt.
Name the compliance contact
Choose someone who can say no to sales without asking sales. In an SME this is often the head of finance, quality or legal.
Add checks to existing routines
Extend the agent contract template, the purchase approval and the expense process. A new control that sits inside a routine people already follow is more likely to be used.
Open a reporting channel
Tell staff how to raise a concern and state in writing that nobody suffers for doing so. Test once that the channel works.
Keep the evidence as you go: the risk table, the signed policy, agent files and the gift register. These records are also what you rely on when you answer the self-assessment.
05: Certification
How to get ISO 37001 as a manufacturer with Zertify
The self-assessment has 38 yes/no questions on the ISO 37001 requirements. Fourteen are must-meet questions, and all of them must be answered yes. From the other 24 you need at least 16 yes answers. The 14 questions are the core of the assessment, not every requirement of the standard. You can start without registering and see where your system stands.
After you pass and pay, the certificate arrives within 4 hours. It is issued by Zertify under licence from SICE, and SICE reviews every assessment before issue. Each certificate has a number and a QR code on the PDF that lead to a public verification page, so a purchasing department can check it in seconds.
The price is CHF 749 (€749) in the first year, then CHF 499 (€499) per year including the yearly online re-audit. The certificate is valid for 3 years. The subscription renews automatically and can be cancelled at any time in your customer account, effective at the end of the paid year. A multi-standard discount applies if you add ISO 9001 or ISO 14001.
There is no on-site audit. If a customer asks for the classic route with an on-site audit by a certification body, the guide on the routes shows the differences.
06: FAQ
Questions about ISO 37001 for manufacturing
The standard is voluntary. It becomes relevant when a customer, a tender or a group code of conduct asks for proof of an anti-bribery system. Check the supplier questionnaire or the bid documents to see what exactly is requested.
Yes. The requirements apply to organisations of any size, and a small plant meets them with short documents and clear roles. The compliance contact can be a person who has other duties as well, as long as that person has direct access to the managing director.
It costs CHF 749 (€749) in the first year, then CHF 499 (€499) per year including the yearly online re-audit. The subscription can be cancelled at any time to the end of the current year in your customer account. Prices include 8.1% Swiss VAT for customers in Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
The certificate is issued within 4 hours after you pass the self-assessment and pay. The time you need before that depends on how much of your anti-bribery system is already written down. Many plants find that the policy and the agent files take the longest.
No. The certificate covers your own company. What the standard asks is that you check your agents and distributors before you work with them and keep that check on file.
Some customers state the route they expect, others only ask for a valid certificate that can be verified. Read the requirement in your questionnaire or tender text. The guide on the certification routes helps you compare.
07: Guide
Related pages
Check where your company stands on ISO 37001
Answer 38 yes/no questions and find out whether your anti-bribery system passes.
Free and without registration