The ISO 9000 Revision: Why It Matters

Without ISO 9000, ISO 9001 lacks context

Mon, 02/26/2024 - 12:03

ISO 9001 has begun its revision process. In the next few months, all eyes will be riveted on that arena as everyone seeks to anticipate the changes and what they’ll augur for their own quality management systems. The attention is not undeserved.

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Equally important but with considerably less ballyhoo, ISO 9000 has also embarked on its own revision process. Why is this important? What actually is ISO 9000, and why does it matter?

Some background: ISO 9000:2015—“Quality management systems—Fundamentals and vocabulary” is the normative reference for ISO 9001 and a multitude of other ISO standards. Normative in this context means “...referenced in this document and... indispensable for its application.”

Essentially, in order to fully understand the concepts, terms, and requirements that are found in ISO 9001, it’s important to understand how they are defined in ISO 9000. And, for the purpose of consistency and effectiveness, the terms need to be applied uniformly as they are defined.

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Comments

Submitted by David Eckhart (not verified) on Mon, 02/26/2024 - 17:35

Thank you for this article, Denise.  It's a wonderfully concise explanation of the value inherent in ISO 9000 that I try to convince my clients about.  Now I can reference your article for a better pitch.

There was a rumor last year that the ISO 9001 committee had determined that there would not be a 2025 revision to the standard.  Was that premature?  Is a 2025 revision under way?

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 02/27/2024 - 07:39

I really appriciate how you broke down the differences between ISO 9000 against ISO 9001. I like how you stated that  ISO 9001 is the "shall" & ISO 9000 is the "Why".  Very well put, good examples and straight to the point.

Submitted by Bill Pound on Tue, 02/27/2024 - 09:27

Denise, with all your knowledge and participation in ISO activities, what do you say about the Boeing company.  Their QMS system is based on AS9100, an offshoot from ISO 9000 and 9001.  Their recent problems with the 737 MAX suggest need for an audit.  Perhaps their executives have given too much focus to finance and too little to quality production.

The 6th Quality Management Principle is "Evidence-based decision making". Before making any suggestion I would wait for the evidence. In the meantime, it's worth noting that Boeing has built a lot of good aircrafts that have flown hundreds of thousands of people around the world for years.

That is a perfect non-comment.  "Wait for the evidence" you say.  Two crashes of 737's and a blown out door with a 737 full of passengers at 16,000 feet over Portland OR in a plane which had two previous low cabin pressure alarms before the flight in which the door blew out.  I am well aware that Boeing has built many good airplanes over the years.  So your advise is for them to rest on their laurels.

Meanwhile they are considerably behind on deliveries, Airbus is eating their lunch, and China can't be far behind.  The head of their 737 program has been replaced.  Perhaps head of the Commercial Airplane Division should be next, and then the CEO whose focus seems to be investment management.  I would like to see less emphasis at Boeing on ESG and DEI and more on merit in manufacturing airplanes.

Bill Pound, BS Engineering Physics, Montana State; MBA Operations Research, UC Berkeley; PhD Industrial Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston IL...followed by 40 years technical, environmental, and quality assurance work.  This includes work as a Quality Engineer for a vendor to Boeing.  The company must respond to their wake up call.

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