ISO 9001 fao Alan

Mar 14, 2005
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Hi Alan,

I have been contributing to this forum for many years now, and I have seen some posts that praise products or companies, sadly they are vastly out numbered by complaints. It is human nature, but as I have previously implied the forum could be a source of positive information to enable customers to get the best service or deals. For that to be effective we need more positive posts.

Continuing from your last post on the "Request to move pitch - what would you do?" topic.

ISO 9001:2000 grew out of a series of preceding standards, and has changed in a number of quite fundamental ways from its earlier incarnations. It is now a far more manageable system, but as with any system, it is essential to have reliable information to enable effective decision making.

The bible still has to be the Quality Manual, which now only needs to contain the necessary policy statements that underpin the 8 key business processes for the organisation. Process controls and work instructions can now be maintained in appendices, which simplifies the process of managing changes to them.

And change is the name of the game, as it is a requirement for compliance to ISO 9001:2000 that the organisation must have a policy for and demonstrate continual improvement. This is not simply product improvement, but whole business improvement.

The only way to demonstrate compliance is to have evidence or the starting point, the

Identified criteria used to measure change, and the control process to review progress. This evidence must be auditable to prove it was planned change rather than a corrective action to resolve a non-conformance.

It is assumed that by improving the business as a whole, and adopting a strong customer focus, a 9001 compliant business will naturally drive product improvements.

I have noticed a number of businesses that actually mislead customers by claiming a product is approved to ISO 9001. It is impossible to have a product approved to 9001, as it is only a business model. The only way that EN ISO 9001 can be used as a product endorsement is to say the product was produced under management system assessed as being compliant with ISO 9001.
 
Mar 14, 2005
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It should also not be forgotten that ISO 9001 does not guarantee a product that necessarily meets the customer's expectations. Fulfilment of ISO 9001 only guarantees a product which is in accordance with the manufacturers set quality levels and these levels may not satisfy a particularly fastidious customer.
 

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