The purpose of ISO 9001:2015 is to help organisations to provide products and services that meet all relevant customer needs or expectations and comply with all relevant statutory and regulatory requirements. An organisation can achieve these important objectives if it establishes a Quality Management System and if it continually tries to improve the suitability, adequacy and effectiveness of this system. But how relevant is the ISO 9001:2015 standard to my business?
The adoption of a Quality Management System to the ISO 9001:2015 series is a strategic decision for the organisation to help improve its overall performance or compliance requirements and works as a baseline for sustainable development initiatives. The standard continues to be a guideline and therefore is flexible to the extent that it can be integrated into any organisation. Internationally, it is the quality standard guideline of choice.
The standard focusses on risk-based thinking to help identify possible factors that could affect business processes and its ability to consistently delivery products and services against the requirements. The Quality Management System ultimately acts as a preventive action tool, to achieve its intended results, enhance desired effects, prevent or reduce undesired effects and identify opportunities for improvement.