DQS Holding GmbH based in Frankfurt am Main is the holding company of the worldwide DQS Group. The group provides assessments and certifications of management systems and processes of any type.

Deutsche Gesellschaft zur Zertifizierung von Managementsystemen (DQS)
Company typeStandards Organization
IndustryAssessment, Certification
Founded1985
HeadquartersFrankfurt am Main, Germany
Area served
Global
Key people

Michael Drechsel (MD)
Ingo Ruebenach (MD)
ProductsAssessment and Certification of Management Systems and Processes
Revenue145 Mio. EUR (concern, 2018)[1]
Number of employees
2500
Website
Logo of DQS holding, consisting of the letters "D," "Q," and "S" in blue typeface on a white background
Logo of DQS Holding

History

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DQS was founded in 1985 in Berlin and was the first German certification body.[2][3] The aim of the founding partners, DGQ (German Society for Quality) and DIN (German Institute for Standardization), was mainly to promote the German economy. The foundation overlapped with the publication of the first drafts of the ISO 9000 series of standards, which also include the most important quality standard worldwide today: ISO 9001.

In 1986 DQS became the first certification body in Germany to issue a certificate according to ISO 9001.[4]

After the merger of DQS with the Management Systems Solutions (MSS) division of the American product certification body Underwriters Laboratories Inc. in March 2008, DQS-UL Group is currently one of the world's largest system certification bodies. Since June 2015 the company changed its name to DQS Group.[citation needed]

Corporate Organization

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DQS Holding GmbH has more than 85 offices in over 60 countries. DQS Group currently has about 20,000 certified customers[citation needed] across almost all industries with approximately 65,000 certified locations in over 130 countries.[5]

The concern employs 814 people and commands 2,500 auditors in 2019 (annual average). Among the largest companies within the group are DQS India.(Bangalore), DQS Inc. (USA), DQS do Brasil Ltd., DQS Japan Inc., DQS Medizinprodukte GmbH (Medical Devices), DQS CFS (sustainability) and DQS GmbH (all Germany).[6]

DQS India

Headquartered in Bangalore Main and with a local offices in Chennai, Pune, Gujarat, DQS India is the largest subsidiary of DQS Holding GmbH.

DQS GmbH in Germany

Headquartered in Frankfurt am Main and with a local offices in Hamburg, DQS GmbH is the largest subsidiary of DQS Holding GmbH.

Service spectrum

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The group’s services include cross-industry assessments to customer or industry-specific requirements and certifications to national and international standards and specifications.

In addition, the group also offers assessments in the areas of Risk Management Systems, Sustainability, Education, Data Privacy, Business Excellence, Health and Social Services, and Integrated Management Systems.

Network

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DQS is a charter and full member of the international certification network IQNet Association which was founded in 1990. The main objective of the currently approx. 40-member global network is the mutual recognition of certificates issued by the member companies. Dr Sied Sadek, former Managing Director of DQS CFS and DQS Middle East, who is now the Managing Director of SQS Deutschland GmbH, pointed out in an interview to share DQS's expertise in the field of CSR reporting and DQS's understanding of the necessity to do so sensitive to the regional and cultural context, in the development process of the Islamic Reporting Initiative (IRI).[7]

References

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  1. ^ DQS Holding GmbH: Konzernabschluss zum 31. Dezember 2017. Bundesanzeiger, May 12, 2015. (german)
  2. ^ Wolfgang Hansen: Zertifizierung und Akkreditierung von Produkten und Leistungen der Wirtschaft, Carl Hanser Verlag München Wien, 1993, p. 155, ISBN 3-446-17108-8.
  3. ^ Walter Masing: Handbuch der Qualitätssicherung, Carl Hanser Verlag, 2nd ed., 1988, p. 972, ISBN 3-446-15172-9.
  4. ^ Fiorenzo Franceschini, Maurizio Galetto, and Giovanni Gianni: A new forecasting model for the diffusion of ISO 9000 standard certifications in European countries, International Journal of Quality & Riliability Management, 21 (2004) p. 32–50.
  5. ^ DQS. "DQS - Simply leveraging Quality. | Über uns". www.dqsglobal.com (in German). Retrieved 2022-06-29.
  6. ^ Schlienkamp, Christoph (2019-01-01). "Hornbach Holding AG & Co. KGaA – Konzernabschluss zum 28.2.2018". Die Aktiengesellschaft. 64 (1–2): r16–r17. doi:10.9785/ag-2019-641-231. ISSN 2366-097X. S2CID 187516955.
  7. ^ "Making It: UNIDO's quarterly magazine | UNIDO".