Frequently Asked Questions

ISO 9000 is often used to refer to the set of ISO Quality Management System documents. ISO 9001 is the document that contains the requirements for the Quality Management System. You will register to ISO 9001. ISO 9000 is a guidance document on the fundamentals and vocabulary for quality management systems. ISO 9002 and ISO 9003 are no longer in use. All companies register to ISO 9001.

Companies need ISO 9001 Registration for several different reasons. One reason is Market Pressure, a customer of yours asks you to become ISO 9001 Registered. Customers ask for ISO 9001 to make sure that their suppliers have a good quality management system in place. Another reason companies register is for the internal benefits. Registered companies experience internal improvements and increased profitability.

When ISO 9001:2008 is implemented in an organization there are many benefits including: Well defined and documented procedures improve the consistency of output Procedures ensure corrective action is taken whenever defects occur Defect rates decrease Defects are caught earlier and are corrected at a lower cost Defining procedures identifies current practices that are obsolete or inefficient Documented procedures are easier for new employees to follow Organizations retain or increase market share, increasing sales or revenues.

The ISO 9001:2008 standard requires a Quality Manual, Quality Goals and Objectives, a Quality Policy and specific procedures for Document Control, Control of Quality Records, Control of Nonconforming Product, Corrective Action, Preventive Action, and Internal Audits. These are the specific procedures mentioned by the standard, and you must have these procedures, but you must also pay close attention to the clause that requires documents needed by the organization for effective planning and control of processes.

ISO 9001 is very applicable to small business; many businesses as small as 2 to 10 people are registered.

There are costs associated with the implementation and maintenance of the system. You will need to have a Registrar come every 6 months or year to make sure your system still meets requirements. Most companies find that the improvements within the company pay for these costs.

We have created a slide show presentation on ISO 9001:2009 Clauses that will explain them in plain english.

ARC Management Systems provide full turnkey implementation of ISO9001. We have all the generic documents and forms that are needed to meet the requirements of the standard.

We analyse your business to ensure that the ISO9001 standard is made simple and clear so that it provides good control of your processes, is easy to maintain and pays for itself in a short period of time.