ISO 9001
ISO 9001 is without doubt the most used quality management standard worldwide. Originally derived from the British Standard BS 5750, which was intended to raise quality standards in British manufacturing.
Very quickly it became obvious that ISO 9000 and its derivatives were also applicable to other businesses. Unfortunately, the ISO standards were very prescriptive and bureaucratic.
This was revolutionized in 2000, with the revised standard ISO
9001:2000. Compulsory paperwork was kept to a minimum (just six
documents as the minimum requirement) and the standard made
deliberately generic. It does not try to tell you how to run your
business - it simply puts forward standards to achieve. Cost savings
go hand-in-hand with ISO 9001. Because everyone knows what is
expected of them, and there are pre-determined systems for dealing
with the unexpected, there is less waste and more efficiency. This
has been highlighted in several studies.
[link]
