ISO 9001

ISO 9000 is a family of standards for quality management systems. ISO 9000 is maintained by ISO, the International Organisation for Standardisation and is administered by accreditation and certification bodies. The rules are updated, as the requirements motivate changes over time.

ISO 9001 is one of the standards within the range of ISO 9000 standards.

ISO 9001:2015 standard recently replaced the previous ISO 9001:2008. The 2015 edition features important changes, which is referred to as an “evolutionary rather than a revolutionary” process. The earlier versions of ISO 9001 were quite prescriptive, with many requirements for documented procedures and records. In the 2000 and 2008 editions, the focus was more on managing processes, and less on documentation.

The new standard goes further and ISO 9001:2015 is even less prescriptive than its predecessor, focusing instead on performance. This has been achieved by combining the process approach with risk-based thinking and employing the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle at all levels in the organization.

Any organisation can benefit from implementing ISO 9001:2015 as its requirements are underpinned by eight management principles:

• a customer focused organisation
• leadership
• the involvement of people
• ensuring a process approach
• a systematic approach to management
• a factual approach to decision making
• mutually beneficial supplier relations
• continuous improvement

Benefits of ISO 9001 Certification

• Customer satisfaction - through delivery of products that consistently meet customer requirements
• Reduced operating costs - through continual improvement of processes and resulting operational efficiencies
• Improved stakeholder relationships - including staff, customers and suppliers
• Legal compliance - by understanding how statutory and regulatory requirements impact on the organisation and its your customers
• Improved risk management - through greater consistency and traceability of products and services
• Proven business credentials - through independent verification against recognised standards
• Ability to win more business - particularly where procurement specifications require certification as a condition to supply