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The New Mentality of ISO Management Systems

Focus is Now Adding Value

Introduction

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Since its inception in 1987, ISO 9001 has matured into a basic model for all of the rest of the ISO Management System standards. The paradigm shift that occurred with the adoption of the 2008 version is that the standard now requires that the organization demonstrate that the system is being used to add value to the organization.

As I perform third party certification audits and conduct training around the country I have noticed that most organizations that implemented their system prior to the year 2000 have really only given lip service to driving the maturation of their system and align it with the change in focus of the standard.

The following information is intended to relate what I commonly see to what the standard actually requires, and to explain the differences between the two. Hopefully, the traps that we sometimes fall into will also be revealed. Since ISO 9001:2008 is the base standard for almost all of the other ISO management system standards, it will be used as the basis for further discussion. All references to the "standard" in this series of articles will mean the ISO 9001:2008 standard.

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