Audits and Quality Management Systems (QMS)

Abstract

A quality management system (QMS) is the combination of methods, principles, and processes of quality excellence applied in an organization. A QMS focuses always on meeting and overachieving customer requirements. The QMS has a set of guidelines that are defined by a collection of policies, processes, documented procedures, and records. This system defines how a company will achieve the creation and delivery of the product or service they provide to their customers. When implemented in your company, the QMS needs to be specific to the product or service you provide, so it is important to tailor it to your needs. However, in order to help ensure that you do not miss elements of a good system, some general guidelines exist in the form of ISO 9001 (Quality Management System—Requirements), which is intended to help standardize how a QMS is designed. ISO 9001 is the international standard for quality management systems (QMSs), published by ISO (the International Organization for Standardization). The standard was most recently updated in 2015 and is referred to as DIN EN ISO 9001:2015. In order to be released and updated, ISO 9001 had to be agreed upon by a majority of member countries so that it would become an internationally recognized standard, which means it is accepted by a majority of countries worldwide. ISO has a range of standards for quality management systems that are based on ISO 9001 and adapted to specific sectors and industries. QMs are accredited by globally applied standards. The advantages of a QMS can be outlined as follows: