ISO 9001 Quality Management System

Posted by QAS International on October 2nd, 2019

The ISO 9000 family of standards deals mainly with the use of quality management systems to ensure that the customers and clients of an organization have their needs met. Over one million organizations are ISO 9000 certified world-wide, making it one of the most used standards created by the International Organization of Standardization. When organizations are ISO 9000 certified, they are telling their customers that they want to deliver quality products and services to them, as well as communicating that they have plans in place to ensure that quality is always managed and is one of the organization's greatest concerns.

The ISO 9001: Quality Management Systems and Requirements

The largest part of the ISO 9001 standard is the creation and implementation of a quality management system. These systems are used to deliver quality products to customers and ensure that quality remains consistent. ISO 9001 Certification Cost 

In order to meet the requirements for the ISO 9001, an organization must create a booklet or document that describes every aspect of their quality management system. A quality management system is really anything that the company or organization does to improve the quality of its products or services. Quality management systems usually entail improvement as time goes on.

The document must include the scope of the system and what it pertains to, as well as defining several terms so that every level of the organization can understand it. The document must also have a section that includes the layout of the system and a portion that is designated to management responsibility. A portion must also be included that outlines resource management in reference to the quality management system, and it must also include the ways that the system is measured and improved over time. The ISO 9001 also requires a quality manual or quality policy, both of which can be included in the document.

Internal Audits

Often time’s businesses need to audit themselves in order to ensure they are following their quality management system so their certification does not get stripped. Internal audits can be prescribed by any level of the organization and must follow the quality manual and document that were created. In some organizations, teams of internal auditors are trained to spot and correct certain violations of the ISO 9001 so that they are fixed before external audits are done. Gap Analysis Audit 

Certification

There are several accreditation bodies located in several countries around the world that are able to provide certification for the ISO 9001, as well as several other ISO standards. These Certification Boards (CBs) are not technically legal entities, but they are often supported by local governments.

Benefits of Implementing Quality Management Systems

There are several benefits involved with creating a QMS. Not only has ISO 9001 compliance shown to increase customer loyalty and trust, but it has also been shown to increase efficiency and operational excellent in organizations. The ISO actually forces organizations to become more operationally efficient because they want to get certification. Organizations that are looking to increase their efficiency and are having problems with retaining clients or customers should consider implementing a QMS and acquiring ISO 9001 certification.