ISO-9001
A brief overview

What is ISO? ISO (International Standard for Organization) is a worldwide federation of national standards bodies. These federations form the member bodies of ISO. ISO prepares standards that can be adopted by various organizations to bring uniformity and universality to its structure and processes. The standards are set through ISO technical committees. Each member body interested in a particular area or subject can be part of the technical committees. Governmental and non-governmental international organizations also take part in the work ISO 9001 was prepared by ISO/TC176 committee which takes care of Quality management and quality assurance and the SC2 subcommittee that takes care of Quality systems. The current version of ISO 9001:2008 is the fourth edition. ISO 9001 is a set of standards that define the processes that go into making and operating a successful quality management system that is universal in nature. They can be applied to any organization in any sector. To adopt and run a quality management system is an organization’s strategic decision. It is based on the 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. The environment and changes happening Needs of the organization Objectives of the organization Products Processes Size and nature of the organization. Process approach The standards go beyond just uniform documentation. They involve a deep rooted alignment of the organization towards operating a QMS that is universal in nature. In order to do this effectively, ISO 9001 uses a process approach. There are several functions in an organization and these are all inter-related and linked. These functions use resources and transform inputs into the required outputs using processes. Process approach uses a set of processes to manage and control these functions and their linkages to produce an outcome that leads to satisfaction of the customers’ needs. A