Oxebridge has release the official final version of its Oxebridge Q001 Quality Management System Standard. The standard is intended to allow companies to achieve near total compliance to ISO 9001:2015 while using a standard that is easier to understand, and which includes requirements missing from the ISO document.
The Q001 standard may be downloaded for free here. Oxebridge has also published an audit checklist and ISO 9001 Crosswalk Guide to help ensure full ISO 9001 compliance when using Q001.
Oxebridge developed the standard in order to present a more comprehensive set of QMS requirements, while removing redundant and unclear requirements which have confused many ISO 9001 users. The wording of requirements has been made clearer, and the standard should require no additional documentation to clarify it.
The standard then adds requirements related to key QMS features such as cost of quality, configuration management, quality culture, opportunity management, process design, incident investigation and more. The Q001 standard returns requirements for preventive action which were previously seen in earlier editions of ISO 9001, but removed from the 2015 edition.
The intent is that companies may use the Q001 standard as a way to develop an ISO 9001 compliant quality system while adding modern quality concepts that ISO 9001 does not address.
Oxebridge aimed to improve the usability of the standard for service providers, who often argue that ISO 9001 is too biased towards manufacturers of products. To address this, the Q001 standard adds special clauses to suit service providers.
Despite adding requirements, the final word count of Q001 is less than that of ISO 9001, which relies on pages of introductory text and annexes to clarify its requirements.
Oxebridge will not offer certification to Q001 but is exploring offering contractual accreditation to bodies or individuals interested in offering certification services. Those interested in offering certification may contact Oxebridge by clicking here.
