ISO 9001:2015 – Quality Management System

Brief Background of the ISO 9000 Series

The ISO 9000 family addresses various aspects of quality management and contains some of ISO’s best known standards. The standards provide guidance and tools for companies and organizations who want to ensure that their products and services consistently meet customer’s requirements, and that quality is consistently improved.

That said, ISO 9000 is a set of international standards on quality management and quality assurance developed to help companies effectively document the quality system elements to be implemented to maintain an efficient quality system. They are not specific to any one industry and can be applied to organizations of any size.

Though ISO 9000 can help a company satisfy its customers, meet regulatory requirements, and achieve continual improvement, it should be considered to be a first step, the base level of a quality system, and not a complete guarantee of quality. For maximum quality assurance, the adoption of multiple standards targeting specific areas of a company’s functions is recommended.

What is ISO 9001:2015?

ISO 9001 is the international standard that specifies requirements for a quality management system (QMS). Organizations use this standard to demonstrate the ability to consistently provide products and services that meet customer and regulatory requirements. It is not only the most popular standard in the ISO 9000 series, but it is also the only standard in the series to which organizations can certify.

This standard is based on seven quality management principles, namely:

Customer focus
Leadership
Engagement of people
Process approach
Improvement
Evidence-based decision making
Relationship management

These principles are not listed in priority order. The relative importance of each principle will vary from organization to organization and can be expected to change over time.

These principles are explained in more detail in this pdf document taken directly from www.iso.org

Why Get ISO 9001 Certification?

ISO 9001 Certification will provide maximum benefit to your organization if it approaches ISO 9001 implementation in a practical way.

You have objective proof that your organization attaches great importance to quality and that you have it checked regularly by an independent party. This commitment increases confidence in and out of your organization.

You achieve higher operating efficiency. Organizations that consider quality management to be an integral part of their business operations usually achieve a higher operating efficiency than those that do not.
A certified ISO 9001 quality management system increases the quality of your services and raises your staff’s awareness.
A certified ISO 9001 quality management system ensures clear processes and (communication) structures, tasks and responsibilities throughout the entire organization. This increases the involvement of your staff, which improves the working atmosphere and reduces the pressure of work.
You can detect and identify problems in good time, which means that you can quickly take steps to avoid the same mistakes in the future.
You make it clear to your staff, your partners, your clients and the outside world that customer satisfaction is at the core of your business.
A certified ISO 9001 quality management system gives you a positive company image, raising you up to the level of your competitors or perhaps even a level higher.
It is a great marketing tool. More and more clients are now demanding that their suppliers work in accordance with a certified ISO 9001 quality management system.

In a nutshell, the introduction of an ISO 9001 quality management system typically gives an organization more order and structure, which is usually to the benefit of the quality of its products and services.

For more information on how your organization can get certified, feel free to get in touch with us