ISO 9001:2008 sets out the criteria for a quality management system and is the only standard in the family that can be certified to. It can be used by any organization, large or small, regardless of its field of activity. In fact ISO 9001:2008 is implemented by over one million companies and organizations in over 170 countries.

Quality Management Principles

The standard is based on a number of quality management principles including a strong customer focus, the motivation and implication of top management, the process approach and continual improvement. Using ISO 9001:2008 helps ensure that customers get consistent, good quality products and services, which in turn brings many business benefits.

Audits:

Ensuring that the system works is a vital part of ISO 9001:2008. An organization must perform internal audits to check how its quality management system is working. Depending on the size, an organization may decide to invite an independent certification body to verify that it is in conformity to the standard – Compliance Management Solutions (ISO 9001 Melbourne consultants) can conduct 1st party (internal audits) on an organizations behalf. An excellent mechanism to view the health of an organization’s QMS is to collect data (metrics) which will indicate where focus is required (CAPA’s, Complaints, Feedback, Nonconforming Product etc).

Benefits of implementing ISO 9001 include:

• Cost savings – helps optimise operations and therefore improve the bottom line
• Enhanced customer satisfaction – helps improve quality, enhance customer satisfaction and increase sales
• Access to new markets – prevents trade barriers and opens up new markets
• Increased market share – helps increase productivity and competitive advantage