ISO 9001:2008

What is ISO 9001:2008?

ISO 9001:2008 is an international standard that gives requirements for an organization’s Quality Management System (“QMS”).   This will  mean that they are claiming to have a QMS meeting the requirements of ISO 9001:2008, the only standard in the ISO 9000 family that can be used for the purpose of conformity assessment. It is important to understand however, that ISO is the body that develops and publishes the standard - ISO does not “certify” organizations, as will be explained later in this brochure.

The objective of ISO 9001:2008 is to provide a set of requirements that, if they are effectively implemented, will ensure that your business moves on and on.

The requirements cover a wide range of topics, including your supplier's top management commitment to quality, its customer focus, adequacy of its resources, employee competence, process management (for production, service delivery and relevant administrative and support processes), quality planning, product design, review of incoming orders, purchasing, monitoring and measurement of its processes and products, calibration of measuring equipment, processes to resolve customer complaints, corrective/preventive actions and a requirement to drive continual improvement of the QMS. Last but not least, there is a requirement for your supplier to monitor customer perceptions about the quality of the goods and services it provides.

ISO 9001:2008 does not specify requirements for the goods or services you are purchasing. That is up to you to define, by making clear your own needs and expectations for the product. You might, for example, refer to product specifications, drawings, national or international product standards, supplier’s catalogues or other documents as appropriate.

ISO today published ISO 9001:2008, the latest edition of the International Standard used by organizations in 175 countries as the framework for their quality management systems (QMS).

ISO 9001:2008, Quality management system – Requirements, is the fourth edition of the standard first published in 1987 and which has become the global benchmark for providing assurance about the ability to satisfy quality requirements and to enhance customer satisfaction in supplier-customer relationships.
ISO 9001:2008 contains no new requirements compared to the 2008 edition, which it replaces. It provides clarifications to the existing requirements of ISO 9001:2008 based on eight years’ experience of implementing the standard worldwide and introduces changes intended to improve consistency with the environmental management system standard, ISO 14001:2004.