What is the ISO 9001 Standard?
ISOQAR Standards are a requirement for certain businesses.
You may see the term ISO 9001 thrown around in specific circles, but not really know what it means. As we have been proudly certified for many years, we thought we would give you a bit of background.
In order to demonstrate an ability to consistently meet the needs of their clients, manufacturers like us can gain an ISO 9001 certification.
ISO 9001 is an international standard for a quality management system or QMS. This means that in order to be certified, the company in question must follow a set of requirements.
So, what is a QMS?
A quality management system or QMS is a system a company puts in place to ensure that the requirements of customers and other interested parties are met.
These requirements can come from customers, employees, vendors, regulatory agencies or share holders. These interested parties are referred to as ‘stake holders’.
A QMS is a system that ensures that stake holders’ requirements are met.
A system like this requires that you document your activity that meets these requirements, stick to the steps outlined in this documentation, audit this (prove that you have stuck by it) and improve upon these systems continuously.
ISO 9001
The current version of the ISO 9001 standard is ISO 9001:2015, published in September 2015.
Individuals cannot be certified to ISO 9001 standard. Instead an entire organisation becomes certified. However, an individual can become ISO 9001 Certified Lead Auditor. This qualification requires a 5 day training course.
It is not a membership group. A company cannot ‘join’ ISO 9001.
Instead they must:
- Implement an ISO 9001 standard QMS.
- Have a Certification Body audit the performance of the business against the latest standard.
- Be re-certified every 3 years.
We are proud to hold this standard of QMS.
For more information on our products, please contact us.