International quality management standard

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has released the revised standard ISO 9001:2008, Quality management systems.

ISO 9001:2008 will provide clarification to the existing requirements of ISO 9001:2000, based on feedback the organisation received from various stakeholders and users worldwide. The 2008 version also promotes ease of use across all business sectors and improves consistency when integrating with the environmental management standard, ISO 14001:2004 Environmental management systems.

A system based on ISO 9001 can help to provide a framework within which to address various issues businesses face, including: customer satisfaction, complying with regulatory requirements, continual improvement, organisational effectiveness, and increased product and service quality.