This guide is intended to help everyone in a service organization participate in creating and sustaining a foundation of integrity, meet requirements and customer expectations, and support robust processes, to the advantage of everyone in the organization and to each of its customers. It provides a simplified explanation of the clauses of ISO 9001:2015, including: - What’s required - Why to do it - Implementation tips - Questions to ask to assess conformity Also included is a chapter that answers the question “Why do ISO 9001:2015?” and a chapter that summarizes the key differences with past editions of ISO 9001. To assist the user in implementation of QMS processes, this guide also includes a chapter that describes 12 quality tools. For each tool, the authors describe (1) what it is, (2) where it’s used, (3) how it’s done, and (4) cautions to be considered when using the tool. The contents of this book can help organizations save time in achieving compliance with the ISO 9001 requirements and also facilitate effective implementation. This has the potential to lower internal costs and to improve customer satisfaction.

The handbook is structured to guide organizations new to ISO 9001 through the process necessary to connect their current practices to the requirements of ISO 9001:2015. For organizations already certified to ISO 9001, it advises how to use your upgrade to ISO 9001:2015 as an opportunity to rebuild your QMS into a helpful asset in managing your business.

This book is intended to help those involved in managing and conducting audits to ISO 9001:2008. It can be used as a guide to establishing a new audit program or for revitalizing one that has been operational for some time. It focuses on achieving an audit program that produces value-adding results for the organization. Arter, Cianfrani, and West, experts in both ISO 9001 and auditing, believe that the art and science of auditing quality management systems that have been designed and implemented following the process approach (the foundation of ISO 9001:2008) is more challenging and interesting than auditing discrete elements to determine whether documented procedures and records exist. Auditing a process-based QMS, or even small elements of such a system, requires auditors to understand and integrate into an audit all aspects of organizational activities, from high-level planning through ensuring that customers are satisfied. The role of auditing is evolving, and the skills and competence required to do it well also must evolve. The contents of this book will help auditors understand their role in the organization and discharge their auditing duties in a way that is challenging to them and contributes to the success of the organization.

This handbook was developed to help small and medium-sized organizations better understand ISO 9001:2015. It is intended to facilitate implementation and improvement. The establishment, implementation, and maintenance of an ISO 9001–compliant quality management system (QMS) should allow the organization to experience multiple benefits beyond the achievement of certification. Organizations should also see improvements in the quality of products, customer satisfaction, and process effectiveness—all of which ultimately have a positive impact on the bottom line. It is expected that some readers will have already established a QMS. This handbook will serve to reinforce good practices and will help you better understand the intent and value of some of the requirements of ISO 9001. Since the handbook is especially focused on small and medium-sized organizations, the examples that are provided will have greater applicability and will enhance comprehension, again resulting in increased value. Implementing a QMS in a small organization is not easier or harder than it is in a large one. Resources are different; each organization has its own unique challenges, constraints, and advantages. The thing to always bear in mind is that this is your organization and these are your processes. ISO 9001:2015 defines the requirements, but it does not dictate the method of application. Utilizing this handbook should allow you to develop or rejuvenate your QMS so that it is a benefit to both you and your customer.

Some organizations just get by. While they may realize some successes over time, they often aren’t traceable to the organization’s quality management system (QMS). Other organizations can trace performance improvements to their QMSs, and therefore are able to sustain and expand upon them. Working from the tenet that performance improvement is too important to be left to chance, the authors of Unlocking the Power of Your QMS have meticulously combed the most fundamental, globally accepted quality standards and criteria, and have culled 12 principles that can serve as a foundation for mature quality management systems. Next, through an assessment by top management, the mission, vision, and business model of the organization are determined and aligned with these 12 principles.West and Cianfrani make the case that “...there is nothing an organization can do that can have more benefit than the development and deployment of its principles.” This book not only convinces you, it provides you with the guidelines you need to dramatically improve performance in your organization.

In today’s competitive environment, it’s no longer enough to satisfy your customers. To sustain success, you must meet the needs and expectations of all relevant interested parties of your organization. The journey is a process in which those needs and expectations are inputs, and sustained success is the output. To transform the inputs into sustained success, the organization must establish and implement the right processes. This represents ‘what’ must be done. The organization also must ensure that it has the behaviors and competences needed to maintain these processes, representing ‘how’ things should be done. This book covers both the ‘what’ and ‘how’ aspects of achieving sustained success and is a guide for top managers ready to embark on this journey. The chapters serve as a sequential checklist that elaborates on the key elements of the process, with each element building on the next as readers are guided through their journey.