Understanding ISO 9001 certification!

Quality management encompasses all company practices aimed at satisfying customers and delivering products that meet their expectations.

ISO 9001 certification enables you to conquer new markets and improve the performance of your company's processes, operations and overall organization. Our aim is to improve productivity!

Let's take a look at 5 key points you need to know to master ISO 9001 certification!

‍

Our complete ISO 9001 guide HERE

The ISO 9001 standard

If a company wishes to obtain 9001 certification, it must of course comply with the requirements of the ISO 9001 standard.

The requirements of the standard define a Quality Management System (QMS). This QMS comprises all the processes, roles, documents and objectives that contribute to continuous improvement and customer satisfaction.

It defines the requirements that enable an organization to demonstrate its ability to consistently deliver products and services that meet customer expectations and legal obligations, covering planning, process management, document control, performance assessment and continuous improvement. The aim is simple: to guarantee sustainable, demonstrable quality.

The 7 principles of ISO 9001  

The standard is based on 7 quality management principles:

• Customer focus: putting customer satisfaction at the heart of the company's priorities.
• Leadership: commitment and responsibility on the part of management are essential to support the quality approach and certification.
• Staff involvement: every employee must understand his or her role and impact in the management system, so as to actively contribute to its effectiveness and avoid any drift.
• Process approach: structuring the organization around clear processes helps optimize overall performance.
• Continuous improvement: this is the central principle of the standard (chapter 10), encouraging the company to make continuous progress.
• Evidence-based decision-making: choices must be based on reliable data rather than subjective impressions.
• Stakeholder relationship management: identifying and managing relationships with all stakeholders (customers, suppliers, partners, authorities) is essential to ensure sustainable performance.

These principles are not strict requirements, but rather management guidelines.

‍

Who is concerned by this certification?

ISO 9001 applies to all organizations, whatever their sector or size: industry, services, administration, associations.
A very small company can just as easily commit to it as a large multinational group. The standard is universal and adaptable, as it does not prescribe how quality is to be achieved, but sets out requirements to be adapted to the context of each company.

ISO 9001 can be used as an internal reference to structure and improve your organization, without necessarily going as far as certification.

However, obtaining certification brings official recognition of quality and constitutes a significant commercial advantage.

‍

Steps to ISO 9001 certification

To obtain ISO 9001 certification, you need to set up a QMS and have it audited by an ISO 9001-accredited organization.

The main stages are :

1. Initial diagnosis and definition of a compliance plan.
2. Implementation of quality processes and associated documentation.
3. Team training and awareness.
4. Internal audit and management review.
5. Certification audit by an external body.
6. Issuance of certificate (valid for 3 years, with annual surveillance audits)

The choice of perimeter

Certification does not necessarily cover the entire company: the organization defines a perimeter (e.g. an activity, a subsidiary, a production site). This perimeter must be coherent and clearly defined, as it will be mentioned on the certificate and verified by the auditor.
An appropriate choice of perimeter enables strategic activities to be valorized and compliance efforts to be controlled.

The perimeter may be modified in subsequent years.

The benefits

The concrete benefits of ISO 9001 certification are numerous:

• Improving customer satisfaction.
• Reduce non-conformities and error-related costs.
• Structuring and formalizing processes.
• Continuous improvement at the heart of our strategy.
• Brand image enhancement and competitive advantage.

Advantages over other standards

Unlike other sector-specific standards (ISO 27001 for security, ISO 14001 for the environment, HDS for health), ISO 9001 is cross-cutting and universally applicable. It can also be used as a basis for integrating other standards, as its process-based management and continuous improvement approach is common to many ISO standards.

Find out more about the synergy between ISO 9001 and ISO 27001 in our Webinar :

Synergies between ISO 9001 & ISO 27001

‍

8. The next version 2026

The revision of ISO 9001 is underway, and should result in a new version by 2026.
Work in progress focuses on :

• Taking into account the challenges of digitization andartificial intelligence.
• The growing importance of social responsibility and sustainable development.
• More explicit integration of risk and opportunity management.

The aim of this evolution is to make the standard even better adapted to the current and future realities of organizations.

Read our article on the subject: The new version of ISO 9001

Our complete ISO 9001 guide HERE

‍