Shift from ISO 9001:2008 to ISO 9001:2015

The current essay describes and analyses a shift from ISO 9001:2008 to ISO 9001:2015. New standards will be introduced by the International Organization for Standardization at the end of the current year. Emphasis is put on the determination of the major aim of changes and their influence on company’s performance. Amendments to ISO 9001 reflect the integration of international quality management standards with others and better risk management.

General Information

ISO 9001 is a set of standards that contain organizational management system requirements. If any company intends to obtain ISO 9001 certification, it must comply with these standards, which are revised every five years by the International Organization for Standardization (International Organization for Standardization, 2015). The revision is necessary for keeping the document “relevant for the marketplace” (International Organization for Standardization, 2015). In the current moment, new revised standards are being developed. The Organization intends to ensure easier integration of the existing requirements into company’s performance: quality management standards (9001), standards of information security (27001), asset management standard (55001), and environmental management standards (14001) (Bennett, 2015). Moreover, new ISO 9001:2015 is developed for providing an effective response to the latest international trends directed at the improvement of risk management. ISO 9001:2015 will be published at the end of 2015 (International Organization for Standardization, 2015).

Summary

This essay shows differences between ISO 9001:2008 and ISO 9001:2015, discussing and analyzing amendments to the international quality management standards thoroughly. The major changes concern to the structure of the document and its content. The implementation of structural changes has the aim of easier integration of new ISO 9001:2015 into other standards, which concern the company’s performance. The International Organization for Standardization has tried to provide requirements for certification more oriented towards meeting external and internal risks and issues. That is why, employees of the company should have deeper knowledge and skills concerning their profession, as well as risk and quality management. It is shown in new requirements as to the knowledge of the staff. In addition, the responsibility of the company to comply with the international standards will be shifted from some particular person to a group of people (top managers), who have a greater influence on the organizational performance and can facilitate its abidance by the quality management requirements.

Key Learning Points

The current work provides a description and analysis of changes in quality management standards ISO 9001, which will be introduced at the end of the current year. This essay shows the major differences between ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 9001:2008 reflected in the structure and content of the document. The International Organization for Standardization will make the following amendments to the quality management standards: the necessity of the determination of internal and external issues and the development of plans for their rectification, replacement of management representative, establishment of requirements to knowledge management, and the development of risk management initiatives.

Critical Analysis

The International Organization for Standardization has been working on the development of changes to ISO 9001:2008. The major aim of an amendment to the existing standards is making them more relevant for companies, providing better adaptation to changeable market conditions and improving the quality of rendered services. In addition, the Organization aims to simplify the integration of quality management standards into other fields of organizational performance due to the growth of the possibility of various risks. Simplification is performed by changing the structure of ISO 9001. The Organization has revised chapters, subchapters, clauses and paragraphs (Bureau Veritas, 2015). This particular change does not have a considerable influence on the content of the standards. Its purpose is complying “with new composition guidelines and topic sequences” (Bureau Veritas, 2015). A new high level structure will make these standards consistent, match sub-clauses, and use the language that is common for various standards developed by the Organization and different industries (including services). New ISO 9001 will comply with the general framework for the ISO management system stated in Annex SL. The amended document will contain ten clauses. The description and analysis of some of them and introduced changes will be provided below.

The International Organization for Standardization developed new Clause 4 that provides the context of the quality management system and the ways of support of this system by the company’s strategy. A company will be required to determine both internal and external issues and their influence on the company’s performance. Moreover, the development of special plans for meeting these issues will be demanded for passing certification. In addition, each company will state interested parties (relevant to the quality management system). The main aim of the incorporation of this clause into ISO 9001 is the establishment, maintenance, and continual improvement of the quality management system of the company.

In the new standards, the idea of a management representative will be replaced by the idea of the incorporation of the quality management requirement into business processes through the company’s top management. This amendment is based on the understanding that a group of people that controls and directs the company has a great influence on the working process. Hence, procedures directed at the improvement of the quality management system will be performed more precisely and effectively. This change will be introduced in Clause 5.

Additional attention should be paid to the establishment of new procedures, which enable the improvement of the knowledge of management (like any other resource). These procedures will be presented in Clause 7. Companies will be obliged to identify, maintain and protect the knowledge that is necessary for the performance of particular organizational tasks. Requirements stated in this clause will be directed at ensuring employees’ awareness, competence, and abidance by the quality management system. Any changes in knowledge needs and failures of knowledge acquisition should be anticipated and managed in due time. These changes to ISO 9001 are aimed at improving the quality of organizational performance and services. In addition, this clause will contain new standards of documenting information. Companies will be required to determine the amount of documented information necessary for compliance and control of the quality management system. At the same time, the requirement of keeping an up-to-date quality manual will be eliminated. This change provides greater flexibility and enables companies to meet standards without “jeopardizing managerial agility” (Bureau Veritas, 2015).

Additional attention should be paid to changes in company’s responsibilities. According to new Clause 8, the quality management system will also concern post-delivery activities, like recycling, financial disposal and others. ISO 9001:2015 will put greater emphasis on controlling organizational performance, planning changes, and monitoring subcontractors.

The major improvement in ISO 9001 concerns risk management initiatives. The Organization will represent amendments, which allow companies to reach a higher level of maturity through the identification, qualification and management of risks. Companies will be required to show a continuous improvement in the risk management system, identify possible risks (including mismanaged and wrongly qualified ones), and increase the quality of organizational performance (Bureau Veritas, 2015). Various internal audits, management reviews and changes in internal and external issues will become compulsory for companies, which intend to obtain ISO 9001:2015 certification. The information received after these audits will form a basis for the implementation of necessary changes in the company’s quality management system. The incorporation of these initiatives into new ISO 9001 has the aim to “cover the suitability and adequacy of the QMS as well as its effectiveness” (DiMaria, 2015). Consequently, the possibility of any uncertainties in organizational performance will be minimized. Moreover, these changes will enable clients of certified companies to obtain high quality products and services. The information about risk management initiatives and performance evaluation will be represented in Chapter 9 and Chapter 10.

Learning Reflections

Various sources were studied during the preparation of the current work. The information about new standards was presented in numerous on-line resources. Hence, the major problem was choosing the most relevant data and their presentation in a coherent manner. The major benefit of studying the topic of shifting form ISO 9001:2008 to ISO 9001:2015 is obtaining knowledge about the international standards and the ability to analyze changes, which will be presented by the International Standards Organization at the end of the current year. The preparation of this essay helps to understand the direction of the improvement of the existing quality management standards. ISO 9001:2015 is more oriented at the unification with other requirements, determining and responding to internal and external issues and risks.

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Conclusion

This essay discusses amendments to ISO 9001:2008, which will be officially published in 2015. The International Organization for Standardization will introduce changes in the structure and the content of the document. ISO 9001:2015 can be easily integrated into other standards because of a similar language and structure. New standards will be oriented at the determination of internal and external risks and issues. A more effective risk management system will be reached by stating the necessity of the development of risk management plans and shifting the responsibility of compliance with ISO 9001 from some particular person to top managers. In addition, emphasis will be placed on the determination of necessary knowledge for the performance of company’s tasks and their constant improvement. New standards are directed at a better response to any challenges and the improvement of the quality of rendered services and offered products. The current paper has improved personal understanding of initiatives represented in ISO 9001:2015.