ISO 9001 Quality Management Systems (QMS)

ISO 9001 is by far the world’s most established quality framework, currently being used by around 897,000 organisations in 170 countries worldwide, and sets the standard not only for quality management systems, but management systems in general.

It helps all kinds of organisations to succeed through improved customer satisfaction, staff motivation and continual improvement.

ISO 9001 is one of a series of quality management system standards. It can help bring out the best in your organisation by enabling you to understand your processes for delivering your products/services to your customers. The ISO 9001 series of standards consist of:

• ISO 9000 – Fundamentals and Vocabulary: this introduces the user to the concepts behind the management systems and specifies the terminology used.
• ISO 9001 – Requirements: this sets out the criteria you will need to meet if you wish to operate in accordance with the standard and gain certification.
• ISO 9004 – Guidelines for performance improvement: based upon the eight quality management principles, these are designed to be used by senior management as a framework to guide their organisations towards improved performance by considering the needs of all interested parties, not just customers.

In addition, ISO 9001 is designed to be compatible with other management systems standards and specifications, such as ISO 14001 (environmental) and  OHSAS 18001 (occupational health & safety). They can be integrated seamlessly through Integrated Management. They share many principles so choosing an integrated management system can offer excellent value for money.

Benefits of ISO 9001

The benefits of an ISO 9001 certified quality management system include the following:

• Increased 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 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

ISO 9001 was amended in November 2008 but the changes were minor and did not result in any new requirements.

Features of ISO 9001:

• Not bureaucratic (only six mandatory documented procedures required)

• Process approach (systems to be based on business processes not clauses of the standard)

• Customer focused (requirement to monitor customer satisfaction)

• Process performance to be analysed to provide relevant information from which informed decisions can be made.

• Requires continual improvement to be achieved and demonstrated (requirement for setting and meeting objectives and targets)

Quality management systems can be implemented to meet the requirements of ISO 9001 and either registered by a UKAS Accredited Certification Body or maintained to meet all the requirements but not formally registered.