The Chartered Quality Institute (CQI) says changes made to the ISO 9001 standard for Quality Management will have “significant impact” across a number of areas, particularly for businesses in the UK.
A number of changes for the globally recognised certification were announced at this year’s IRCA Global Forum, which according to iso.org will be published by 2015.
Much like the previous systems, the new ISO 9001 can be used by any organisation, large or small, regardless of its chosen field of activity, to improve quality management and put in place best practice methodology.
Speaking at the 2013 IRCA (International Register of Certificated Auditors) in Japan, Chairman of the CQI Standards Panel, Colin MacNee said the changes to the industry standard will place more emphasis on actively improving a business.
After canvassing the views of 60,000 CQI members across 150 countries, Mr MacNee said many business adopt a “tick-box mind-set” when auditing their processes. Cited by manufacturingdigital.com, he said the proposed revisions would change this culture and ensure that businesses remain innovative.
“We also need to broaden interest and attract more industries,” he added. “While ISO 9001 is widely used in manufacturing and other heavy industries, it can also have a significant benefit in other more service-oriented sectors, another field in which the UK leads.”
Mr Macnee added that the proposed changes would have a huge impact on UK businesses, as this is one of the most innovative nations in the world.
“We hope that, through certification to the new ISO 9001, we can ensure that UK businesses not only continue to innovate, but to use it to become even more innovative,” he concluded.
