What is the difference between ISO 9001 and G7 Master certification?

Bradford & Bigelow holds both ISO 9001:2015 registration and G7 Master qualification. They're often mentioned together, but they cover different aspects of print quality and serve different purposes.

ISO 9001:2015 — process quality
ISO 9001 is a quality management system standard. It governs how a facility documents, monitors, and continuously improves its processes across every stage of production. ISO 9001 registration is maintained through annual third-party audits and requires ongoing internal review, corrective action tracking, and structured accountability at every level.

ISO 9001 doesn't specify what the output should look like, it ensures the processes that produce that output are controlled, repeatable, and continuously improving.

G7 Master — color quality
G7 Master qualification is a color management standard. It certifies that a facility's presses are calibrated to the G7 methodology, which focuses on achieving consistent neutral grays and tonal balance across devices and production runs. G7 is maintained through press calibration and measurement, not process audits.

G7 governs specifically how color is measured and controlled on press, it has nothing to say about order management, scheduling, or bindery processes.

How they work together
ISO 9001 ensures B&B's production processes are documented and accountable. G7 ensures B&B's presses are calibrated to produce consistent, predictable color. Together they give print buyers confidence across two dimensions: that the process is controlled, and that the color output meets a measurable standard.

For more detail on each, see our blog posts on what ISO 9001:2015 means for print buyers and what G7 means for your brand.