The draft version of the new ISO 9001:2015 standard has been available for some time. Somewhere around 40% of the norm will be supplemented, modified, or changed, thus this is a “major” revision.
However, the final version is not yet available.
ISO 9001:2015 Timetable
The standard is updated and I modified in phases –
Initially, multiple drafts are made distributed and made available for review and comment. Feedback from industry experts and professionals is solicited and evaluated.
The result is that the standard takes some time and effort to be revised. In specific terms this means that at present the so-called “Committee Draft” has been published as a preliminary draft. The Committee’s timetable includes publication of the final standard in September 2015.
ISO 9001:2015 Transitional Period
There is to be a three-year transitional period. During this transitional period, organizations have time to adjust their management systems to the new standard.
New ISO 9001:2015 Structure
The new standard will include new classifications. In future there will be ten clauses. One major reason for this is because the current clause 8 (Measurement, Analysis and Improvement) will be broken down into two chapters.
Summary of New ISO 9001:2015 Content
The new ISO 9001:2015 standard will include some aspects of the current ISO 9004. As a result, the standard will be modernized and adjusted to embrace certain state-of-the-art management principles.
These include the following principles:
- Risk Analysis and Management – a company’s risk management plays a crucial role in the new standard. It permeates nearly every clause – from corporate planning, business processes, internal audits through to supplier management. Analyzing and managing risks is further linked to opportunities for company improvement. Please note though that formal risk management (e.g. according to ISO 31000) is not mandated.
- Stakeholders – effective corporate management can only be realized if the needs of all of the stakeholders can be identified, quantified and included.
- Process approach – Process management gets its own clause in the new standard. While the Process Approach is clearly embedded in both ISO 9001:2000 and ISO 9001:2008, it much more rigorously identified, defined, and mandated in the new ISO 9001:2015 version. Thus, it no longer only relates just to recognizing the workflows in the company, but now to managing the workflows in a more specific manner as well.
- Documentation – Documentation will become much more flexible. Records and documents will become so-called “documented information”.
- Knowledge Management – The requisite expertise has to be identified, recognized, obtained, secured, and passed on internally.
- Leadership – Corporate management responsibilities and tasks are significantly being expanded, with a particular emphasis on the mentoring function.
What’s Next for ISO 9001:2015?
The next stage (Draft International Standard) of the ISO 9001:2015 is scheduled to be published in April 2014. It is highly probable that the content will continue to evolve and be modified.
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