In this YouTube video, I look at ISO 9001’s biggest crime — that the authors never connected the concept of a “system” being a set of “processes.” They mention this in passing at the beginning of the standard (clause 4.4), but by clause 6 the authors have forgotten what they were talking about, and the rest of the standard has you measuring your “processes” separately (or not at all) from the “system.”
Instead, a quality management system is a set of quality management processes. To know the health of the QMS, you have to measure the QMS processes. The concept of “quality objectives” as a standalone thing is a confusing red herring.
Will the authors of the upcoming revision fix this? Unlikely, since the people who were responsible for the confusing language of the 2015 version have more power now — not less — and are refusing any feedback from stakeholders that might suggest they need to fix anything. As a result, I present a workaround for both the current version and — very likely — the next one, too.
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
