Hey guys! Did you already hear that ISO 9001:2015 is now available for purchase? Or aren’t you yet so familiar with ISO certificates? I know, with thousands of ISO standards out there, it can be harsh to understand the difference between them all.. Well, here’s a glimpse of ISO 9000, ISO 9001:2008 and ISO 9001:2015.
What is ISO 9000?
The ISO 9000 is a family of standards focused on quality management, put together through input from a wide spectrum of organisations and experts both in the public and private sectors. The ISO 9000 suite is intended to help organisations of every size and industry to become better managed, more efficient and more customer-focused.
ISO 9000 is based around 8 Quality Management Principles:- Customer focus
- Leadership
- Involvement of people
- Process approach
- System approach to management
- Continual improvement
- Factual approach to decision making
- Mutually beneficial supplier relationships
There are multiple standards within the ISO 9000 family including ISO 9000 itself, which sets the tone by providing the fundamentals and vocabulary. The other standards cover specific points such as performance improvements, documentation and training.
What is ISO 9001?
ISO 9001 is the most popular standard in the ISO 9000 series and the only standard in the series to which organizations can certify. With more than 1.1 million certifications worldwide, ISO 9001 determines the requirements of a Quality Management System (QMS).
Organizations use the standard to demonstrate the ability to consistently provide goods and services that meet customer and regulatory requirements.
The new ISO 9001:2015
The latest edition and the full name of ISO 9001 is ISO 9001:2015, representing its last revision date. The revision was published in September 2015. All ISO standards are reviewed every five years to check whether they need revision to meet the current requirements in the marketplace. ISO 9001:2015 is designed to respond to the latest trends and be compatible with other management systems such as ISO 14001.
What are the main changes to ISO 9001:2008?
The revision concludes over three years of review work by experts from nearly 95 participating and observing countries to bring the standard up to date with modern needs. Significant changes have been made which means you’ll need to certify to the revised standard. Changes to the standard include topics such as risk-based thinking and documentation. You can read more about the changes here.
I am certified to ISO 9001:2008. What does this mean for me?
You have a three-year transition period after the revision has been published. This allows you to migrate your quality management system to the new edition of the standard.
Certifying to ISO 9001:2015 means you’ll stand out among other businesses since you’ll be learning ways to improve and streamline processes and will be ensuring your customers the highest level of quality with your goods and services.
