The international standard ISO 9001:2000 was developed by the ISO/TC 176 Quality Management and Quality Assurance Technical Committee, and its introduction invalidated and replaced the second edition of the ISO standard (ISO 9001:1994).
This standard is new enough that interpreting its requirements causes quite a bit of trouble. Even certification bodies have problems with it.
The following article will present basic information regarding quality systems and the ISO 9001:2000 standard.
Quality management system
The ISO standard provides the following definition of quality:
Quality is the totality of features and characteristics of a product or service that bear on its ability to satisfy stated and implied needs.
The definition emphasizes what is essential in the modern approach to quality – we speak of quality not only when a product is characterized by appropriate parameters, but above all, when its features allow for the satisfaction of customer needs. And this very aspect of quality has been strongly emphasized in the new standard.
The new approach to quality issues can be characterized as follows:
– customer orientation
– systemic and organized action
– influencing quality at all stages of product manufacturing
– applying various quality improvement techniques
– involvement of all employees
– creating a pro-quality philosophy and culture
– documenting quality-related activities.
The article comes from the magazine “Logistyka” 2/2003.