As everyone in the quality game is aware, the world now has a new version of ISO 9001. ISO standards touch
almost everything we do and they help to make the world a safer and more efficient place. This drives the need to
evaluate the effectiveness of the standard and make changes to drive continual improvement within our own
organizations and industrywide.
The task of understanding the revised standard’s effect on your organization can be overwhelming. We at PJR
want to ease our clients and potential clients into this new standard and have composed this simplified FAQ to
address some of the most pressing questions and address what steps can be taken now to prepare for the coming
change. In addition to this FAQ, PJR also offers an overview of changes to ISO 9001:2015 webinar on a monthly
basis, with easy registration available at http://www.pjr.com/upcoming-webinars.
Why is the ISO 9001 standard changing again?
There are a number of objectives associated with this revision, but there are three that are considered most
critical. 1) The Internal Organization for Standardization (ISO) wants to see the ISO 9001 and all of its other
standards continue to grow in terms of numbers of registrations. There is a lingering perception that ISO 9001
is somehow overbearing or obtrusive to service organizations. 2) There has been a targeted effort to simplify
language used to aid in understanding and promote consistency between accreditation bodies, certification
bodies, auditors, and clients. 3) There has been a long standing desire to simplify and streamline the process for
companies that wish to achieve multiple certifications (such as ISO 9001 and ISO 14001.) For example, many
of these companies currently feel compelled to maintain multiple sets of quality and procedures manuals. This
new re-write is attempting to address these and other concerns.
