Sunday, January 19, 2020

ISO 9001 -2008 - What it Means to the End User

The History of ISO 9001

ISO 9001 actually started off as BS 9000 in 1971, when the British Standards Institute (BSI) published the first UK standard for quality for the electronics industry. Then, in 1974, the BSI published BS 5179; Guidelines for Quality Assurance. This led to a shift in the burden of inspection from the customer to the supplier, as quality assurance could be guaranteed by the supplier to the customer through third-party inspection.

In 1971, the British Standards Institute (BSI) published the first UK standard for quality assurance (BS 9000), which was developed for the electronics industry. Then, in 1974, the BSI published BS 5179; Guidelines for Quality Assurance. This led to a shift in the burden of inspection from the customer to the supplier, as quality assurance could be guaranteed by the supplier to the customer through third-party inspection.

During the 1970s the BSI worked with industry in order to establish a common standard, with the more recognisable ISO 9000:1987 standard being released in 1987. This evolved until we came to ISO 9001:2000, which most people who hold Latest ISO certification in Kolkata would be currently most familiar with. This version was quite a radical change from before. It was radical by actually placing the concept of process management at the heart of the standard, making it clear that the essential goals of the standard - which had always been about 'a documented system' not a 'system of documents' - were reinforced. The goal was always to have management system effectiveness via process performance measures.

On November 14th 2008, we received the latest revision to the ISO 9001 standard: ISO 9001:2008. Unlike the 2000, this was a slight revision, not a radical change.

What's different about ISO 9001:2008?

ISO 9001:2008 contains no new requirements compared to the previous ISO 9001:2000 edition, which it now replaces. It provides clarifications to the existing requirements of ISO 9001:2000 and introduces changes intended to improve consistency with the environmental management system standard, ISO 14001:2004.

How will the changes affect certified organisations with ISO 9001?

The committee in charge of revising the ISO 9001 standard is called ISO/TC 176. Their intention was to revise the standard, but not to make changes which were of no benefit.

One of the advantages of the revised standard was improved integration with other management standards, such as ISO 14001. Other changes made should result in better understanding across a broader range of product types, including service organisations; use of deliberate wording to minimise the potential for incorrect user interpretation; and reflect nuances of similar word concepts. Some specific changes to clauses were also made thanks to response from the International User Feedback Survey carried out back in 2004.

Do I need ISO 9001:2008?

If you wish to continue with being externally verified as ISO 9001 certified, you will need ISO 9001:2008 at some point. As with all ISO standards, there is a transition period allowing organisations to get ready. Certification Bodies will evaluate conformity to the new ISO 9001:2008 standard during regular surveillance visits and full reassessment will only take place once your current certificate expires.

The rules are that one year after the publication of the new standard (November 14th 2009), all certifications issued must be to ISO 9001:2008. After two years, existing ISO 9001:2000 certification will be invalid. Because of the small amount of changes, the actual cost of certification should not change significantly, if at all.

In summary then, ISO 9001:2008 is not a revision that organisations should be fearful of. All changes are ultimately there to improve the ease of use of the standard, whilst improved integration with other management standards is a plus for all forward thinking businesses with more than one standard to their name. The revisions will be integrated into your next audit by your chosen certification body and will require no planning beyond what you normal would do.

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