The revision of ISO 9001:2015 is well underway. The draft text has just been approved by the vast majority of the 79 countries called upon to vote. This is the penultimate step before publication of the new version of ISO 9001, expected in September 2015.
ISO 9001 has been supporting companies around the world for almost thirty years, and is currently being revised to meet new business challenges. On Friday October 10, the DIS-Draft International Standard vote concluded on a more than encouraging note for the future of ISO's star standard: 89 % of the countries called to the ballot accepted the draft text under revision. This is 9 points more than in the previous vote, which enabled the standard to pass the CD-Committee Draft stage. The changes made to the draft standard have led some countries, previously opposed to its development, to vote in favor of it..
The 3,000 comments received during the vote will be analyzed by around 100 experts of 50 different nationalities, who will meet in Ireland at the end of November to prepare the FDIS version, which should be published around June 2015. Of course, the AFNOR standardization committee will continue to influence discussions and ensure that the position of French stakeholders (VSEs, SMEs, industries, services, etc.) is recognized.
Unprecedented mobilization in France
On the occasion of the public survey conducted in France, open to all between May and July this year, AFNOR Normalisation collected more than 2,000 comments from users of ISO 9001 version 2015. An exceptional participation rate, proof that this flagship organizational standard remains an essential foundation for company management, and that its new version best reflects good management practices.
While many of the comments concerned vocabulary and definitions, such as the term "risk", which makes its appearance in the 2015 revision, users also expressed their views on the introduction of new concepts, such as the analysis of the organization's context and its relevant stakeholders, or the disappearance of certain requirements.
The meeting ended with a French vote in favor of DIS ISO 9001, and the formalization of some one hundred comments which will feed into discussions at the next international meeting in Ireland.
ISO 9001 version 2015: evolution or revolution?
Since the last major revision of ISO 9001 in 2000, management practices have changed considerably, and the economic context for companies has become more complex. The 2015 version of the standard takes these challenges into account, and pursues two objectives: to help companies better anticipate the needs of their markets, and to enable them to improve their performance. Among the changes already in place, ISO 9001 version 2015 encourages companies to identify risks and opportunities, to adapt their quality approach to the organization's strategy, and to control the entire chain (suppliers, subcontractors, etc.) in order to create value for customers. The new structure of the standard, known as "universal", will also be a formidable gas pedal for integrating other complementary management systems, such as ISO 14001, which shares the same revision schedule as ISO 9001.
Learn more: www.afnor.org