ISO 9001 – The “Gateway” Standard
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” - Aristotle
This quote captures the essence of the intent of ISO 9001; making excellence a habit by defining the processes for the success and improvement of your organization.
ISO 9001:2015 is a generic standard in terms of its ability to be adapted to virtually any type of organization, whether manufacturing or service-related industries. The success of the management system is dependent upon many factors, not the least of which is the way your organization defines itself in terms of a series of interrelated processes.
When referring to ISO 9001 as the "gateway" standard, it is truly just that. If your organization has aspirations to become registered to other, more technical, industry-specific standards such as IATF 16949, AS9100, ISO 27001, ISO 20000-1, ISO 45001 or ISO 14001 to name a few; it is then worth considering starting with ISO 9001 to establish the framework and processes that define your organization.
Once audited and certified to ISO 9001, this will put your organization on a trajectory to integrate or adapt the management system to any (or all) of the previously mentioned standards.
Why? You ask.
Consider this, the basic framework, and in some cases the core requirements, of ISO 9001 as well as the previously noted industry-specific standards are the same. Therefore, ISO 9001 can be viewed as a gateway into international standards, creating a sturdy foundation for your organization to build out their management system from.
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Senior Technical Reviewer, Technical Operations NSF-ISR
5 年Very true! Compliance with the ISO 9001 requirements are typically achieved when there is a need driven by customers but also when an organization wants to improve its QMS with the goal of improving its products or services and ultimately customer satisfaction.