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What is ISO 9001?
ISO 9001 is an international
Standard. It's one of the
most widely known and
internationally accepted
models for a quality system,
and the basis of many very
effective quality systems.
ISO 9001 is a generic
Standard that can be applied
to any size of company or
organisation, in any
industry or field in any
country, regardless of the
type of product or service.
The Standard expects and
encourages the use of
Deming's PDCA circle:
First you Plan, then you
work the plan (Do). You
Check the results, and then
Act to adjust, change and
continually improve. And so
on.
The more you follow this
virtuous quality circle, the
better your system.
Key
principles of ISO 9001
The Standard is based on
these 8 key principles:
• Customer focus
• Leadership
• Involvement of people
• A process approach
• A systems approach to
management
• Continual improvement
• A factual approach to
decision making
• Mutually beneficial
supplier relationships.
The Standard itself consists
of a set of specific,
numbered requirements. The
requirements specify what
must be done, but not how.
For example, it says you
must plan for how to achieve
quality. It does not say how
you must plan, nor specify a
format for your planning.
Many companies, particularly
in building and
construction, use a document
called a 'Quality Plan', but
that is only one way of
meeting this particular
requirement. Nowhere in ISO
9001 itself is there a
specific requirement for a
document called a quality
plan!
And just because the
requirements are generic,
and because it is intended
to apply to all kinds of
businesses, some skill and
experience is required to
apply it effectively and
intelligently to your
particular business and
environment. Which makes
sense if you think of how
different some of these
examples are: a company
producing parts for the
automotive industry, a
security firm, a property
development company, a
food-producing business,
police stations, and
companies that develop,
service or install software.
Why
do ISO 9001?
That's a very important
question. You should have at
least one good reason to do
it. And just 'having the
certificate' alone is
definitely not a good
reason. In fact, it's one of
the classic mistakes.
Some of the most common
reasons are:
• Greater client assurance -
your clients may insist, or
you decide it would enhance
your client reputation or
business standing, or it may
be a contract condition
• It's a widely known and
internationally accepted
model of a quality system.
So it doesn't matter whether
a company is in Middle East,
Australia, China, the USA,
Britain or Europe: if it has
ISO 9001, you know it meets
the rigorous requirements of
the Standard
• To get benefits such as
increased sales, improved
processes, improved
communication at all levels,
greater business control,
greater internal consistency
and discipline, and reduced
costs through doing things
faster, better or cheaper
and/or reducing errors or
customer complaints. |
