What is ISO 9001?

If you work in manufacturing, you may have heard the term “ISO” followed by a number. This may seem like a secret code and have no idea what it means. It is simply an agreed-upon set of quality standards to ensure that a company consistently provides well-made products to customers. These standards are periodically updated, thus the different numbers. 

What Is ISO?

ISO stands for International Organization of Standards. The reason it’s not called IOS is that ISO is the Greek word for the same and a fitting name. As the name implies it is a worldwide organization whose goal is to create requirements and guidelines for companies in every country to follow. The ISO has numerous committees whose members hail from many nations. These committees are reasonable for the creation, maintenance, and publishing of 22,450 standards that provide guidance for the design, production, and testing of all kinds of products. The latest revision of these is ISO 9001.

What Is ISO 9000?

Created in 1987, ISO 9000 was the first set of standards created by the organization. The standards were adopted from U.S. Department of Defense and UK Defense Ministry standards. They ensure that products manufactured meet the needs of customers as well as adhere to standards of safety. This also protects shareholders of company stock. ISO 9000 created a standard that could be used by companies worldwide rather than having them follow different standards. It provides consistency in manufacturing.

What Is ISO 9001?

Commonly called ISO 9001:2015 for the year it originated, ISO 9001 added seven clauses, numbered 4-10, to the previous list of standards. They are:

Number 4

A clause on finding internal and external company issues in order to understand the context of your organization. It also involves determining how your processes interact with quality management systems and the identification of interested parties and their expectations.

Number 5

This clause covers the requirements of company leaders to ensure they are able to quality management. Leaders must demonstrate a commitment to ensuring quality policies are clearly communicated and enforced.

Number 6

This clause is about planning and the assessment of opportunities and risks. It also covers finding areas that need improvement and planning to make them better.

Number 7 

The section deals with the management of all resources, building, infrastructure, and human. It also is about creating and monitoring a sound work environment as well as communication and control of documentation.

Number 8

This is the clause that deals with operation. It deals with the planning, design, review, manufacture, and release of products and services. 

Number 9

This important clause deals with evaluating performance and measuring progress through audits and customer satisfaction surveys.

Number 10

The final clause is about improvement. It involves continuous monitoring of processes to constantly make them better. It helps to improve your quality management system.

The ISO was created for the purpose of creating industry standards for quality in every aspect of manufacture. The related committees continue to meet to improve upon these standards, the latest of which is ISO 9001.