ISO 9001 management systems are usually implemented to supervise the processes and guarantee the quality of a product or service; according to the requirements contractually defined with the end customer in compliance with the applicable statutory and regulatory.
The UNI EN ISO 9001 standard is an internationally recognized standard that establishes guidelines for the management of all business processes, proposing a series of organizational-managerial requirements oriented to business processes, in order to create a shareable management system, documented and verifiable, measurable in its efficiency and effectiveness performances.
The standard, as specified, provides operational indications, requires documented information in relation to the main processes that characterize the organization’s operations (activity planning, in-process and final checks, sales, procurement, servicing), as well as for support processes (human resources management, machine and plant maintenance, documentation management) and strategic management processes (context analysis, stakeholder analysis, risk analysis and opportunities). This system is strongly oriented towards improving corporate performance over time, through strategic planning upstream of objectives and indicators, monitored over time, making management tools available for the pursuit of organizational and operational improvement.
The ISO 9001 management system can be subjected to verification of compliance with the international standard by a Certification Body. The certification process foresees, after the development and a suitable implementation period within the company of the management system; the audit by the same Certification Body, through two phases conducted separately.
In particular, the stage 1 audit in which an analysis is carried out on the compliance of the documented information and on compliance with the main applicable legislative requirements, the stage 2 during which the application and effectiveness of the implemented system is verified. The audit of the Certification Body is aimed at assessing the compliance of the management system with the reference standard with respect to a specific operational area specified by the organization (so-called “certification scope”).
The certification of the ISO 9001 system can constitute an element of qualification of the organizations with both public and private clients as well as a prerequisite for access to tenders, private negotiations, accreditation systems.
