The ISO 9000 family addresses various aspects of quality management and contains some of ISO's best known standards. The standards provide guidance and tools for companies and organizations who want to ensure that their products and services consistently meet customer's requirements, and that quality is consistently improved.
ISO 9001:2015
- sets out the requirements of a quality management system
ISO 9000:2005
- covers the basic concepts and language
ISO 9004:2009
- focuses on how to make a quality management system more efficient and effective
ISO 19011:2011
- sets out guidance on internal and external audits of quality management systems.
ISO 9001:2015 sets out the criteria for a quality management system and is the only standard in the family that can be certified to (although this is not a requirement). It can be used by any organization, large or small, regardless of its field of activity. In fact ISO 9001:2015 is implemented by over one million companies and organizations in over 170 countries.
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. These principles are explained in more detail in the pdf Quality Management Principles. Using ISO 9001:2015 helps ensure that customers get consistent, good quality products and services, which in turn brings many business benefits.
Checking that the system works is a vital part of ISO 9001:2015. An organization must perform internal audits to check how its quality management system is working. An organization may decide to invite an independent certification body to verify that it is in conformity to the standard, but there is no requirement for this. Alternatively, it might invite its clients to audit the quality system for themselves.
A good foundation builds a good business, and ISO 9000 is a good foundation for small businesses that want to expand their market. By introducing a quality management system like ISO 9000 to a small business, the quality of processes will increase and costs due to inefficiency will decrease. In addition, a small business will be able to advertise their use of the internationally recognized ISO 9000. This may create business opportunities that were not available before an objectively verified quality management system was in place.
Having management systems in place, such as ISO 9000, will also help when selling a business. The integrity and value of a small business will be apparent with well-documented processes and proof of quality. ISO 9000 will ensure the reputation of your business in any situation.