By the time you read this, the new version of ISO 9001 should be out. ISO 9001:2008 is the result of years of work by an international team of volunteer experts. These dedicated men and women gave up hundreds of hours of their time and traveled to locations around the world, usually at their own expense, to revise the standard.

The revision process began almost as soon as the year 2000 version of the standard was published. In fact, work on the next revision of the standard--slated for the year 2015--has already begun.

Most people have three primary questions about the new standard:

• What’s new?

• When does it take effect?

• How long do I have to transition to the new standard?

Let’s start with the first question. As the authors of the article in this issue “The Insiders’ Guide to ISO 9001:2008” (starting on page 43) point out, “The changes are minor in nature and address such issues as the need for clarification, greater consistency, resolution of perceived ambiguities, and improved compatibility with ISO 14001, which relates to environmental management systems.” In essence, ISO 9001:2008 contains no new requirements. In fact, the team that drafted the standard worked very hard to avoid adding any new requirements. The goal was to clarify the standard’s intent.

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