ISO 9001 is an international quality
standard developed by the International Organization for Standardization
(ISO), a worldwide federation of national standards bodies representing
some 130 countries.
It provides a structured yet flexible framework for a customer focused
business management system that will drive business performance improvement.
ISO 9001 is based on the following eight Quality Management Principles,
which are incorporated within the requirements of the standard, and can
be applied to improve organizational performance:
- Customer focus
- Leadership
- Involvement of people
- Process approach
- System approach to management
- Continual improvement
- Factual approach to decision making
- Mutually beneficial supplier relationships
The standard covers all aspects of an organization's activities, including identifying its key processes, defining roles and responsibilities, policies and objectives, documentation requirements, the importance of understanding and meeting customer requirements, communication, resource requirements, training, product and process planning, design processes, purchasing, production and service, monitoring and measurement of products and processes, customer satisfaction, internal audit, management review, and improvement processes. |
