The series was first published by ISO in , but it was preceded by other standards. As Nichols explains it, in pre-ISO and pre-Thatcherite Britain, industry frequently supplied government enterprises, including the military and utilities. Customers required quality level documentation and conducted audits, but each customer had its own specifications. Nichols gives the example of a supplier he knew who, by the late 80s, was maintaining 14 different manuals, each with essentially the same content, but packaged slightly differently for 14 different customers.
BS became the first consolidated management system guideline in the UK. Since its initial release in , ISO standards have received five updates, in , , , , and, most recently, Each year forms a suffix on standard document numbers, such as or Here are short explanations of the five updates:.
Ffrench calls it a move toward system assurance, an expression of the importance of seeing the big picture. The new version emphasizes the importance of leadership , not just management, in advocating for and guiding the implementation of ISO practices.
It also calls focus to a true understanding of the individual business or organization and its context, before an individual quality management system is defined. In addition, the version encourages organizations to adopt risk-based practices, rather than focus on ill-documented preventive measures. And, to underpin all other quality efforts, calls out the need to include HR requirements for hiring, training, and evaluation as essential to progress for the entire organization.
While the series of standards is the most widely known ISO series and covers quality management, other ISO standards focus on guidelines for management of fields, such as health care, environmental protection, and, recently, sustainable event planning.
ISO and the other standards complement each other and are often used side by side. The documents details fundamentals and vocabulary for each series, and the documents specifies requirements. A complete list of standards for purchase and free descriptive guides is available at the ISO Store. A few of the standards are listed here:.
Although the acronyms and numbers may be alienating, and the talk of auditors and registrars may seem complicated, ISO standards are written in plain language. Private auditing and registering companies also have paid and free information available online. The path to certification begins with a discovery process for all activities, which documents detail step by step. This may include gap analysis to determine how you should be doing things vs.
Third-party auditors then verify that processes and documentation meet requirements; this audit may include interviews with employees to determine if they actually know and understand the documented procedures. Auditors may request amendments, which they also recheck. The candidate company pays auditing costs, including travel expenses. Auditors will review certification every five years to ensure that processes are still consistent with ISO requirements. No system is perfect, and, since its inception, ISO has received its share of criticism.
Some believe that, despite the considerable time and cost of certification, ISO is not a profit-making investment, but merely a condition of business.
Others argue that it may or may not enhance quality and that it may cause improvement efforts to plateau. Some understand ISO as requiring a slavish adherence to specifications and documenting procedures, often largely for the purpose of impressing auditors rather than driving results. All of these criticisms are potential impediments to learning, improvement, and innovation. However, these concerns may largely be a function of improper understanding and implementation of ISO than of the methodology itself.
Nichols asserts that if an organization implements the standards correctly, they will discover problems and inefficiencies when mapping their processes as in Six Sigma and Lean that can be gateways to improvement. This glossary contains explanations of some of the commonly used auditing terms. Empower your people to go above and beyond with a flexible platform designed to match the needs of your team — and adapt as those needs change.
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Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk. In This Article. See how Smartsheet can help you be more effective. Standards About ISO ISO Resources. Our Standards. ISO Related Topics. ISO Vs. ISO history and revisions: ISO , , and ISO was first published in by the International Organization for Standardization ISO , a specialized international agency for standardization composed of the national standards bodies of more than countries.
The ISO revision had five goals: Meet stakeholder needs Be usable by all sizes of organizations Be usable by all sectors Be simple and clearly understood Connect quality management system to business processes ISO was again updated in and ISO is the most current version.
Discover them all. Checking that the system works is a vital part of ISO It is recommended that an organization performs internal audits to check how its quality management system is working. An organization may decide to invite an independent certification body to verify that it is in conformity to the standard, but there is no requirement for this.
Alternatively, it might invite its clients to audit the quality system for themselves. Read more about certification to management system standards. ISO has a range of standards for quality management systems that are based on ISO and adapted to specific sectors and industries. These include:.
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