Oxebridge Quality Resources International recently launched a survey to gather early opinions on ISO 9001:2015 from users and others in the quality profession. In general, the early view of the respondents appears highly positive to cautiously optimistic, with the biggest concern being over the auditability of the standard.
The first set of questions were designed to determine the level of understanding the respondents had relative to ISO 9001 in general. The results show an overwhelming awareness of ISO 9001 among those that took the survey.
The next set of questions were designed to determine opinions related to updating from ISO 9001:2008 to the new 2015 revision. Overwhelmingly, respondents indicated an intention to update their systems. The rationale for updating was roughly split between an update being mandated by key customers, an update being driven internally, or respondents still waiting to see if their customers would mandate an update.
The next set of questions aimed to discover the early opinions of those that had read the standard, both overall and then relative to the most dramatic new changes to the standard. The general opinions tilt towards cautious, but positive, opinions. Regarding the new additions to the standard (context of the organization, risk-based thinking, organizational knowledge), the majority felt the concepts were not well defined.
Related to auditing, respondents felt the new standard would be much more difficult to audit, both by internal auditors and their third-party certification bodies. In fact, the response level was nearly identical for both questions. The view of whether CBs were ready to audit against the new standard was mixed, with 60% indicating either “No” or “Unsure.”
In general, respondents appeared uncertain about the level of representation they had on TC 176.
The final set of questions sought to uncover where respondents were getting information related to ISO 9001:2015, and thus what viewpoints helped form their opinions. The majority of coverage taken in by respondents was through “official ISO articles, publications and guidance documents” and were “predominantly supportive” of ISO 9001:2015, rather than either balanced or neutral.
Respondents came from over 60 countries, with the highest representation from the United States (33%), United Kingdom (12%) and Canada (6%). This is expected to be the result of the survey being largely promoted on LinkedIn, which serves a predominantly English-speaking audience.
The survey included hundreds of individual comments, which will be collated and published shortly.
The survey is still active, and may be taken by following this link.
Christopher Paris is the founder and VP Operations of Oxebridge. He has over 35 years’ experience implementing ISO 9001 and AS9100 systems, and helps establish certification and accreditation bodies with the ISO 17000 series. He is a vocal advocate for the development and use of standards from the point of view of actual users. He is the writer and artist of THE AUDITOR comic strip, and is currently writing the DR. CUBA pulp novel series. Visit www.drcuba.world
