FOREWORD

The international standard ISO 9000 has been adopted by organizations in more than 170 countries and is the biggest-selling ISO standard since the International Organization for Standardization was formed in 1947. In 30 or more years of use by a wide variety of organizations, much has been said and written about the three documents, collectively known as ISO 9000: ISO 9000, ISO 9001, and ISO 9004. With the publication of the most recent version, ISO 9001:2015, came additional guidance in the form of the document ISO/TC 9002. ISO 9000 is important as it is what is called a “normative reference” and contains definitions, ISO 9004 is guidance on the sustainability of an effective quality management system (QMS), and a guidance document, ISO/TS 9002, was published shortly after. Sadly, few users reference these valuable documents in seeking answers for ‘what’ or ‘how to’ questions.

Although a great deal of ISO 9001 would appear, at first reading, to be ‘common sense,’ a significant number of myths have been promulgated, often from confusing what ISO specifically requires compared to that which is commonly implemented, and what is frequently found to be acceptable to pass third-party certification audits.

Based on earlier versions of the ISO 9001 requirements (there have been four previous editions), these myths have misled implementers, delayed or even prevented an organization’s adoption of the requirements, and may have also delayed managements’ understanding of the use of ISO 9001 as a tool for control and improvement of business processes.

This book, then, is an attempt to expose many of the myths and enable a better understanding of ISO 9001:2015 by those who seek to create, implement, and improve an effective QMS for their organization.