Iso 9001 guideThe Origins of ISO 9001:2008BS EN ISO 9001:2008, to give it its full title, is an internationally recognised standard forquality management systems requirements, formerly know as BS 5750. During the FirstWorld War it was noted that some munitions were particularly unreliable. This meant thatnot only were they ineffective, but also in some cases, they caused loss of life to thoseattempting to deploy them. This lead to the development of a defence standard for themanagement of quality in the production of munitions.Over the following 60 years this standard evolved into BS 5750, which was widelyadopted by industry (both commercial and military). In a move towards the globalisationof standards, BS 5750 was combined with international standards and evolved into BSEN ISO 9000 in 1987.Recognition for the need of quality management systems in all areas of business (i.e.service industries as well as the traditional manufacturing sector) throughout the 1990slead to the demands on the standard (ISO 9000 series) changing. Because it had its rootsin the manufacturing industry, it was difficult for other industries (the service sector inparticular) to adopt the standard.In the year 2000 this was addressed in the most significant amendment to ISO 9001 sinceits inception. It re-evaluated the principles of quality management and the result was arestructuring of the standard. The most recent review of the standard was published in2008, but this revision was not a major change.The principles of ISO 9001:2008There are eight management principles that underpin the standard. These are allrecognised principles of good management and ISO 9001 brings them together to formthe model for a robust and effective management system.The principles are: • Customer focus • Leadership • Involvement of people • Process approach • System approach to management • Continual improvement • Factual approach to decision making • Mutually beneficial supplier relationships
When developing any element of a management system each of these principles needs tobe considered.What is requiredThe 2008 version of the standard adopts a business process management approach. Onlyfour core elements now exist in the standard and these apply equally to any businessprocess whether engaged in the manufacturing or service industries.. These elementsare: • Management responsibilities • Resource management • Product realisation • Measurement, analysis and improvementIn summary, this means that the standard requires that your management systems coverthe following issues:1. Management responsibilitiesThe roles and responsibilities of management and staff need to be clearly defined andunderstood. This includes an understanding of the structure of the organisation and howthe groups within it interrelate. This enables adequate planning, objective setting andeffective management of the organisation.2. Resource managementAdequate resources (including human resources) need to be made available and managedto ensure the implementation of a quality management system. These include: • Providing methods for identifying the level of resource required for key tasks and functions. • Understanding the knowledge and skills required to effectively manage the business, both now and in the future.3. Product realisationThese are the controls employed to ensure that any product or service delivered to thecustomer meets their requirements. These include the traditional controls formanufacturing and the definition of customer requirements for services. This will usuallyform the largest part of a management system and will identify how the organisationcontrols its business from identifying customer requirements, through contract review,planning and execution of the tasks that deliver the product or service to the customer.
These controls will contain a definition of the checks and balances that are in place toensure that each stage of the process achieves what is required to deliver satisfaction tothe customer.4. Measurement, analysis and improvementFor the effectiveness of any management system to be monitored it is necessary tomeasure its performance. The need to continually improve is now integral to ISO 9001.Gaining third party certificationISO 9001:2008 provides an internationally recognised model for quality managementsystems. There are many tangible benefits to adopting the ISO 9001 model. Theseinclude improvements to organisation effectiveness, efficiency and the continualimprovement of the business. Gaining third party certification can also bring benefits. Itallows you to demonstrate to your customers and potential customers that you are a wellorganised, capable supplier who provides consistently high levels of customersatisfaction and operates best practice in business management. Certification means usingan accredited independent third party to objectively assess your management system tocertify that it complies with the standard. It is achieved by having an independent thirdparty assessor audit your management system. There are a number of certificationcompanies in the UK and worldwide who provide this service. In the UK theseassessment bodies are regulated by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAShttp://www.ukas.com ). This organisation provides the assessment bodies with anaccreditation service that regulates the process and provides the industry with assurancethat consistent standards are applied. Any organisation can issue a certificate that claimscompliance with the standard but this only has independent credibility in the UK if theissuing authority is a UKAS accredited body. The process of certification typically takesthe form of a pre-assessment followed by an initial assessment that is maintained byongoing periodic surveillance audits. • Pre-assessment - takes place 3 to 6 months after the management system has been established. This allows time for records to be generated as evidence of the operation of the system. The pre-assessment allows the assessment body assessor to familiarise themselves with the system and identify any major omissions in the system before the assessment. • Time Period - usually 6-12 weeks between the pre-assessment and initial assessment to allow amendments to the system to be completed and implemented. • Initial assessment - formal assessment of the management system against the standard. This involves an examination of the documentation that forms the management system plus an assessment of the evidence gathered. This demonstrates that the documented system is working in practice. • Initial assessment process - involves interviewing a number of managers and staff. An assessment is carried out on a sample basis, so not all records will be examined and not all staff will be interviewed. When issued, a certificate is only
valid for a limited period of time and can be removed or cancelled by the certification company at any time. A certificate is normally valid for three years. • Maintenance of certificate - the certification body re-visits and carries out surveillance audits to ensure standards are maintained. These are typically conducted every 6-9 months, dependent upon the size and complexity of the business under assessment. Where an initial assessment will need to evaluate the entire system, a surveillance audit is likely to be of more limited scope and will sample areas of the system in rotation. Over the 3-year period it is necessary for the certification body to have re-visited all areas of the system. • Renewal of certificate - a full reassessment of the system is required after three years.A copy of the standard can be obtained from the International Organisation forStandardisation (ISO) or British Standards Institute (BSI). Certification services areoffered by a large number of companies worldwide. A full list is available from UKAS.What to do next If you are considering implementing ISO 9001:2008 or are simplylooking to develop a quality management system and think you may need help andadvice, please contact The Quality Team today for an informal no obligation chat.If you want to download over free 50 ebook for iso 9001 standard, you can visit:http://iso9001ebooks.infoBest regards