Quality Standards

Various quality standards are discussed.

ISO standards

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) created the Quality Management System (QMS) standards in 1987. They were the ISO 9000:1987 series of standards comprising ISO 9001:1987, ISO 9002:1987 and ISO 9003:1987; which were applicable in different types of industries, based on the type of activity or process: designing, production or service delivery.

The standards are reviewed every few years by the International Organization for Standardization. The version in 1994 was called the ISO 9000:1994 series; consisting of the ISO 9001:1994, 9002:1994 and 9003:1994 versions.

The last major revision was in the year 2008 and the series was called ISO 9000:2000 series. The ISO 9002 and 9003 standards were integrated into one single certifiable standard: ISO 9001:2000. After December 2003, organizations holding ISO 9002 or 9003 standards had to complete a transition to the new standard.

ISO released a minor revision, ISO 9001:2008 on 14 October 2008. It contains no new requirements. Many of the changes were to improve consistency in grammar, facilitating translation of the standard into other languages for use by over 950,000 certified organization in the 175 countries (as at Dec 2007) that use the standard.

The ISO 9004:2009 document gives guidelines for performance improvement over and above the basic standard (ISO 9001:2000). This standard provides a measurement framework for improved quality management, similar to and based upon the measurement framework for process assessment.

The Quality Management System standards created by ISO are meant to certify the processes and the system of an organization, not the product or service itself. ISO 9000 standards do not certify the quality of the product or service.

In 2005 the International Organization for Standardization released a standard, ISO 22000, meant for the food industry. This standard covers the values and principles of ISO 9000 and the HACCP standards. It gives one single integrated standard for the food industry and is expected to become more popular in the coming years in such industry.

ISO has also released standards for other industries. For example, Technical Standard TS 16949 defines requirements in addition to those in ISO 9001:2008 specifically for the automotive industry.

ISO has a number of standards that support quality management. One group describes processes (including ISO/IEC 12207 and ISO/IEC 15288) and another describes process assessment and improvement ISO 15504.

ISO:9001

ISO 9001 is the world’s most widely recognized Quality Management System (QMS). It belongs to the ISO 9000 family of quality management system standards (along with ISO 9004), and helps organizations to meet the expectations and needs of their customers, amongst other benefits.

Various clauses in ISO 9000 standard are

• Determining requirements related to products and services – This clause requires determination of all products and service related requirements the organization is offering to customers. This includes quality, delivery, packaging, capacity, design, performance, service etc. related requirements. This also includes statutory and regulatory requirements. While specifying these requirements, organization should ensure that the requirements are correct enough to handle claims may be received after delivery of products/services.
• Review of requirements related to products and services – Organization shall review requirements of products and services before committing acceptance of requirements to customers. Review includes requirements specified by customers, not specified but necessary considering intended use or product/services, statutory and regulatory requirements, other requirements as necessary, any requirement which is differing from confirmed earlier. Organization shall confirm verbal requirements. Organization shall handle amendment in requirements effectively by communicating it to relevant persons.
• Control of externally provided processes, products & services – This clause of ISO 9001 2015 standard requires that all suppliers and service providers shall be evaluated before their selection as approved supplier. Criteria for evaluation and selection shall be determined. Once suppliers are selected, they shall be periodically reevaluated for their performance suitable to organization’s requirement. Based on output of performance evaluation suitable actions shall be taken on suppliers for their improvement / discontinuation. Organization shall determine which controls shall it apply to suppliers and service providers so that organization can provide products and services to its customers consistently. Controls can be providing clear purchasing information to suppliers, supplier audits on frequent intervals, inspection and testing of products / services provided by suppliers at supplier end or at our end …. etc…. There may be other controls organization may apply to ensure its supply to customer do not get adversely affected. Organization shall provide clear purchasing information to external providers / suppliers which provides all requirements necessary to avoid any miscommunication of purchasing information to supplier. Information may include product description, quantity, delivery, requirement of test certificate, method of product approval, how performance of supplier is evaluated, how organization will interact with supplier on various issues, how customer involvement would be there at supplier premises etc.

ISO-14000

One of the challenges that many organizations face is how to address environmental management planning for their particular business. Developing a cohesive plan can be complex – after all – the environmental impact of a business has many facets making it difficult to discern exactly what should be included in the plan and how it should be prioritized.

To assist in this process, many organizations are increasingly turning to the BS EN ISO 14000 standard. ISO 14000 is a comprehensive set of standards that businesses can use as a framework to establish, measure and systematically document the environmental management system for their businesses. Included within this set of standards is ISO 14001 which represents the most well known and widely used standard for implementing an environmental management system and one in which a company can be certified by a third party. Whilst not a management system in its own right ISO14001 provides a framework that can be used by companies looking to establish suitable controls and processes. Underpinned by thorough analysis of “waste streams” (as opposed to value streams) and a Plan, Do, Check, Act structure companies can establish their objectives, monitor and measure the success and instigate continuous improvement activities to sustain activities and targets.

There are various ways in which ISO 14000 and Environmental management can impact the supply chain – the two key areas are:

• Direct implication on working practices – The most obvious impact caused establishing a set of environmental policies and procedures is on existing working practices. Whilst the environmental policy has to be formulated after careful analysis and examination of all aspects of the business (not just the supply chain) material supply and control can be significant contributors. There are many environmental issues that are specific to the supply chain and others that are generic and apply to the company as a whole. The supply chain can be critical in terms of reducing the environmental impact of the business, with several areas being key contributors such as production processes and logistics/transportation, material storage and even administrative overhead impacting enablers such as energy usage recycling, packaging, outputs and so on. Implementing the management plan may have direct consequences for existing supply chain processes, which will require careful consideration and re-engineering.
• Utilizing ISO 4000 as a requirement when sourcing – Material sourcing and supplier selection can be key contributors to a companies environmental impact – Whilst using standards such as ISO 4000 as a criteria when selecting suppliers can help – it has maybe not yet reached the critical mass to make this workable – however in placing either ISO 4000 attainment or insisting on key environmental management policies being in place a requirement of contracts or long term agreements (LTA’s) buyers can have a direct role in delivering against environmental management plan.