You may have read the title of this article as being relevant to the introduction of the new ISO 900 standard [ISO9001:2008], whereas the intention is to try to protect the integrity of audit and quality management in a time of economic downturn.
While business is prospering there is always a tendency to over populate an [...]

This ISO Standard contains an element (8) intended to encompass a range of features which together support a mechanism to improve the performance of the management system. Internal audit forms part of this set, but only a part, yet is probably the only element readily recognisable to the average person. Internal audit is significant, not [...]

A common perception of the requirement ‘continual improvement’ contained within the ISO9001 Standard (8.5.1) is that in some way it relates to an improvement of product or service. Some more serious thought might reveal this to be a misinterpretation, as the document is not a product or service specification, but a system for controlling the [...]

In every human endeavour there is an element of risk; personal, project or financial, or a combination of them all. The task of the responsible individual is to identify the risk and act accordingly. We all do these ‘risky’ things, almost daily, aware that we are taking a risk. Rather than avoiding risk we become [...]

In an attempt to define an effective set of management processes, ISO 9001:2000 has a section devoted to the management of the contract process. Earlier versions of the Standard (e.g. ISO9001:1994) defined this activity as Contract Review, a clear indication of its nature and purpose. ISO 9001:2000 has located it in a section (7.2.2) “Review [...]

Wherever the ISO9001 Standard is discussed, the one certain item will be that of Improvement. Most often considered is the Continual Improvement requirement of the ISO Standard (section 8 ) or possible improvements to the Standard itself. This latter particularly at the present time as we await the publication of ISO9001:2008.
Seldom heard is any discussion [...]

Defining and understanding business processes is the key to improvement of these processes and hence to improving business performance - whatever the nature of the business. Process mapping is essential to this understanding, and in every business the time spent on this mapping task will demonstrate that few if any members of the organisation fully [...]

Any external audit of an organisation will eventually address the issue of Document Control.  Few aspects of system conformity cause such difficulty as this to both auditor and auditee. Much of the problem arises from the tendency to consider documents in the control mechanism rather than the information they contain. This inevitably leads to a [...]

Developing and improving a management system such as that defined by ISO9001 is often an onerous task simply because the original ground work - defining and establishing the system, was poorly managed.
Because the present version of the Standard was generated with the intention of being universally applicable, specific instructions regarding the construction and documentation were [...]