ISO 9001 is associated with a quality culture.
ISO 9001 is a quality standard developed by the International Standardization Organization ( International Organization for Standardization , in our language). It was first published in 1987 and has had several revisions since then.
The current version of ISO 9001 was released in 2015 . It is based on various principles for quality control and continuous improvement in process management, thus aiming to increase customer satisfaction.
History of ISO 9001
To know the history of ISO 9001, we must first go back to the origins of quality standards. These parameters began to be established after the Second World War , initially being associated with the controls carried out on military processes and equipment. In this framework, the United States was the pioneer country in this type of supervision, which soon spread to Europe .
Thus, after various criteria adopted by the armed forces of different nations, the British Standards Institution ( BSI ) presented the BS5750 standard in 1979 , which achieved great significance thanks to its efficiency. This rule is considered the direct predecessor of ISO 9001 .
In fact, the text of the original version of ISO 9001 was very similar to that of the British standard. Specifically, in 1987 three models linked to quality objectives were announced: ISO 9001 , ISO 9002 and ISO 9003 , which together establish various requirements.
These three ISO standards were revised in 1994 , resulting in ISO 9001:1994 . A second review was carried out in 2000 ( ISO 9001:2000 ), with changes linked to the Quality Management System (QMS) . In 2008 came the third reconsideration ( ISO 9001:2008 ) and in 2015 , the fourth and until now last verification: ISO 9001:2015 .
To access the ISO 9001 standard, the development of corrective actions is usually necessary.
Its characteristics
ISO 9001 establishes the criteria needed to implement a QMS . This notion refers to planning, supervising and optimizing all the elements of a company that, in one way or another, affect the fulfillment of corporate objectives and customer satisfaction .
It is important to consider that this standard is valid for organizations that manufacture all types of products or that provide different types of services, regardless of the sector and regardless of whether they are private or public entities. It must also be taken into account that the idea of quality does not apply only to the final product or service, but affects the entire production process. In this way, with the corresponding controls and certifications, it is possible to "demonstrate" that quality to the consumer or user.
What ISO 9001 does is serve as a quality model and position itself as an international reference. Accessing this ISO certification implies passing a quality audit , which constitutes an endorsement that can be publicly displayed.
Another way to understand ISO 9001 is as an element that helps organize business operations. Given its global reach, a company that holds this certification offers a guarantee of quality to an international buyer.
The design of the QMS based on ISO 9001 requires compliance with a series of steps:
- Establish what the work methodology will be and what criteria will be applied to achieve the standards defined by the standard.
- Propose the measures that will be applied to evaluate the multiple areas that constitute the company's activity.
- Establish standard operating procedures and institute the development of the necessary interactions between them.
Obtaining ISO 9001 certification requires adequate knowledge management.
ISO 9001 and management models
There are various resource management and strategic planning models that contribute to process improvement and the implementation of a quality policy that favors the processing of the ISO 9001 standard.
The strategy known as Six Sigma , for example, seeks to minimize the variability of processes through the optimization of each of its parts. In this way, failures and defects in the delivery of the service or product can be reduced or eliminated.
Six Sigma promotes the statistical control of processes to analyze and characterize them, which opens the door to reducing their variability.
The Lean methodology , for its part, aims to reduce losses in the production process and increase the creation of value for the user or client. Its premise is to use the minimum amount of resources required to grow.
This model helps avoid waiting times, overproduction and unnecessary movements. It also makes it possible to leave aside those activities that do not add value.
The Kaizen philosophy , meanwhile, refers to continuous improvement and can be very important to achieve ISO 9001 . Promotes innovation management, rapid error resolution and creativity. In the same way, it invites us to reflect on the processes for carrying out a performance evaluation and encourages the collective construction of knowledge.
In short, all process improvement tools that encourage carrying out a value analysis and cooperate with the design and application of a quality plan are valuable instruments to achieve the ISO 9001 standard .