ISO 9000:2000 - The "Year 2000" version - Brief Introduction

2001-04-03

Randy Dey, P.Eng.

Randy Dey is President of The CSS Global Group Inc..  He is Chair of the Canadian National Committee on the International Organization for Standardization (CNC/ISO) and is a member of the Canadian Advisory Committee to ISO/TC 176, which is responsible for the development of ISO 9000.

In 1987, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) published the first international standards for quality management systems (QMSs) - the ISO 9000 series. Since then, ISO 9000 has become one of the organization's most influential and widely-recognized products. Today, nearly half a million sites and organizations around the world have registered an ISO 9000 QMS.

Like all ISO standards, the ISO 9000 series is periodically reviewed and revised. The latest revision effort culminated on December 15, 2000, with the publication of new editions of the three key standards in the series:

    * ISO 9000:2000, Quality Management Systems -- Fundamentals and Vocabulary
    * ISO 9001:2000, Quality Management Systems -- Requirements
    * ISO 9004:2000, Quality Management Systems -- Guidelines for Performance Improvements

ISO and the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) - an organization working to bring about worldwide recognition of ISO 9000 registrations - have announced that users who want to register a new or existing QMS will have until December 2003 to bring the system in line with the new standards.

While the new versions are designed to be compatible with what has gone before, a number of changes - some of them fairly significant - have taken place. This article provides a brief overview of some of those changes.

Key Improvements:
While the previous version of the ISO 9000 standards has been widely accepted and applied, some users have reported problems related to complexity and effectiveness. Many of the changes in the new versions respond to these concerns.

    * In previous versions of ISO 9000, there were three standards that described the requirements for registering a QMS. Organizations had to decide which standard to register to based on the operations covered by their QMS. In the new version, these are integrated into a single standard, ISO 9001, Quality Management Systems -- Requirements. To make it easier for organizations to use a QMS to improve productivity and performance, ISO 9004, Quality Management Systems -- Guidelines for Performance Improvements has also been extensively revised.
    * In recognition of the wide variety of organizations using the standards, the new version of ISO 9001 provides detailed guidance on which activities can be excluded from the scope of a QMS. These requirements take into account factors such as the nature of the organization's product and services, customer requirements or applicable regulatory requirements.
    * The concept of "continual improvement" is highlighted in the new version. Evaluating improvement, based on measurable criteria, is now an element in assessing the effectiveness of a QMS.
    * The structure of the standards is now process-oriented, so requirements and guidelines appear in a more logical sequence.
    * Organizations must now monitor customer satisfaction as part of the process of assessing their performance.
    * The revised standards place greater emphasis on the role of senior management in developing, implementing and maintaining a QMS.
    * The new series is intended to be more business-oriented and "user-friendly" than previous versions.

Quality management principles
The revised standards are based on eight quality management principles that can be used by top management as a framework to guide their organization towards improved performance.

   1. Customer Focus: Organizations depend on their customers and therefore should understand current and future customer needs, should meet customer requirements and should strive to exceed customer expectations.
   2. Leadership: Leaders establish unity of purpose and the direction of the organization. They should create and maintain an internal environment in which people can become fully involved in achieving the organization's objectives.
   3. Involvement of People: People at all levels are the essence of an organization, and their full involvement enables their abilities to be used for the organization's benefit.
   4. Process Approach: A desired result is achieved more efficiently when activities and related resources are managed as a process.
   5. Systems Approach to Management: Identifying, understanding and managing interrelated processes as a system contributes to the organization's effectiveness and efficiency in achieving its objectives.
   6. Continual Improvement: Continual improvement of the organization's overall performance should be a permanent objective of the organization.
   7. Factual Approach to Decision-making: Effective decisions are based on the analysis of data and information.
   8. Mutually Beneficial Supplier Relationship: An organization and its suppliers are interdependent and a mutually beneficial relationship enhances the ability of both to create value.

For more information on the revised versions of the ISO 9000 standards, visit our ISO 9000:2000 page.