What is ISO 9001 again?
ISO 9001 is the world’s most popular and most commonly used standard for quality management systems.
A standard is not a law, but an agreement or best practice that an organisation can apply voluntarily. A standard reflects a good level of professionalism. A quality management system is a tool with which an organisation can determine how it can meet the requirements of its customers and the other interested parties that are involved in its activities.
What are the benefits of ISO 9001?
An ISO 9001 quality management system:
- shows that you provide products and services of consistent quality;
- shows that you provide products and services that meet the customer’s requirements, comply with the law and legislation, and meet the organisation’s own requirements;
- can help you streamline your business processes and continuously improve them.
There are two additional benefits:
- ISO 9001 helps you increase customer satisfaction;
- ISO 9001 is positive for your image: you show that you comply with internationally recognised quality standards. This is often a requirement for customers and suppliers to do business with you.
What does the ISO 9001 standard specify?
The most recent ISO 9001:2015 standard is constructed around seven quality management principles:
- customer focus;
- leadership;
- engagement of people;
- process approach;
- improvement;
- evidence-based decision making;
- relationship management.
ISO 9001:2015 describes for each part which requirements your products, services and organisation have to meet in order to enjoy the above benefits.
Who determines, checks and manages ISO 9001?
ISO 9001 is managed by the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) in Geneva, Switzerland. ISO is an independent membership organisation and the world’s largest developer of voluntary international standards. ISO 9001:2015 was developed by the ISO / TC 176 / SC 2 – Quality Systems Technical Committee.
However, ISO does not provide certification or conformity assessment. This is performed by accredited certification bodies. These are establishments that evaluate an organisation’s management system and certify them with respect to the published standards.
I understand that the previous version of ISO 9001 dates from 2008 and that there is now a new version?
That’s right. A new version of ISO 9001 appears about every seven years.
It was first issued in 1987: at that time, you had to describe in detail what your business did. What applied in the 1994 version, was ‘say what you do and do what you say’. In the 2000 version, you had to focus on proper processes in order to continually improve and thereby increase your customer satisfaction. There was nothing added in 2008, but it was more precise about the interpretation of the standard. ISO 9001:2015 was published on 23 September 2015.
Do organisations have to move over from ISO 9001:2008 to ISO 9001:2015 immediately?
No. There is a transitional period of three years after the publication of each new version of ISO 9001, during which organisations can adapt their quality management to match the latest version. Organisations must therefore implement the new ISO 9001:2015 standard before 23 September 2018 in order to continue complying with ISO 9001.
What are the main differences between ISO 9001:2008 and ISO 9001:2015?
ISO 9001:2015 HAS TEN CLAUSES INSTEAD OF EIGHT
ISO 9001:2015 has ten clauses instead of eight. The following table shows the relationship of the ISO 9001:2008 clauses to those in the new ISO 9001:2015.
The first three clauses in ISO 9001:2015 are largely the same as those in ISO 9001:2008, but there are considerable differences between ISO 9001:2008 and ISO 9001:2015 from the fourth clause onwards. The last seven clauses are now arranged according to the PDCA cycle (Plan, Do, Check, Act).
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