ISO 9001:2015 is an updated version of ISO 9001:2008 that, according to NQA (n.d.), is the best practice in the field of quality management. The line of ISO 9001 embraces quality management standards that are aimed at guiding organizations in achieving continuous quality and efficiency growth, customer satisfaction, and reputation improvement (NQA n.d.). The developers believe that the 2015 version is more flexible in its treatment of the processes but more resolute from the point of view of the quality standards that must be achieved (NQA 2015). The NQA Certification (2015) webinar shows that the 2015 version modifies multiple sections of the standard by introducing new requirements and terminology and removing some undesirable references (for example, to exclusions). Moreover, it has a greater emphasis on evaluation, leadership, engagement, resources (external and internal), and the environment. Other important elements of the updated version are the process and risk-based thinking as well as the plan-do-check-act framework (ISO 2015). NQA Certification (2015) webinar also highlights the fact that the new standard is more detailed and clear, which may be the result paying more attention to its terminology and concepts (ISO 2015). The 2015 standard has been developed with organizations’ benefit in mind (NQA 2015), which also explains the focus on language and terminology: the developers wanted the standard to be easy to use. The developers also comment on the fact that ISO 9001 is still evolving; they created an update that reflects modern trends in business and helps modern organizations in maintaining and improving quality and efficiency (ISO 2015). Therefore, the update is not final, and ISO 9001 is going to evolve further to become better and respond to future challenges.
Reference List
ISO 2015, All you need to know about ISO 9001:Web.
NQA Certification, NQA ISO 9001:2015 Transition Webinar, Web.
NQA n.d., ISO 9001:2008 OR ISO 9001:2015, Web.
NQA, ISO 9001:2015, Web.