Having an iso 9001 certification lets your customers know that you make a good product most of the time. It also reassures them that you are dedicated to delivering the quality your company promises.

iso 9001 accreditation is one of the most widely used and best known standards of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). More than a million companies and organizations in 170 countries have been certified to this particular standard, which defines the criteria for general quality management systems.

This certification process follows a two-stage model where the registrar audits your documentation to determine whether you have met any mandatory requirements before providing you with an ISO 9001 certificate of compliance. This certificate expires every three years and can be renewed through the same auditing process.

ISO 9001 and Environmental Sustainability: Creating a Greener Future

The first version of ISO 9001 was released in 1987. It was largely influenced by existing U.S. and other Defense standards (“MIL SPECS“), making it well-suited to manufacturing. However, it tended to focus on the procedures themselves and required evidence of conformance with them rather than on a system of management able to improve and adapt processes. This approach tended to lead to companies creating shelf-loads of procedure manuals and becoming burdened with an ISO bureaucracy that hindered their ability to adapt and improve.

The 2000 revision shifted the focus from a focus on procedures to a focus on management systems. This version added measures for integrating with ISO 14001:2004, a set of rules for environmental management systems. It also clarified some concepts. The latest version of the ISO 9001 standards was released in 2015. It features ten clauses and seven principles, including an emphasis on understanding your own context.