Quality Management System ISO 9004
ISO 9004 is a set of guidelines revolving around quality management. It is the part of the ISO 9000 family of standards, and provides guidance on how to approach, manage, and improve the overall quality of an organization. The standard focuses on the customers view of quality, and how the organization can improve quality management to align with customer interests.
ISO 9004 offers detailed guidelines on how an organization can build an effective quality management system (QMS). The standard is based on two key principles. The first is that an organization should concentrate its QMS around customer requirements, and secondly that improvement should be continuous.
To ensure customer requirements are met, the standard emphasizes customer focus. By understanding customer needs, an organization can develop better products and services that are more likely to meet customer desires. This customer focus applies to both internal and external customer groups, such as those buying products and services from the organization. To enable this customer focus, organizations should have established methods of collecting and understanding customer feedback.
The standard also encourages continuous improvement. A QMS should not just be a one-time process, but should be continually worked at in order to ensure customer satisfaction. Organizations should be looking for new and better ways to improve on the quality of products and services, and should be looking for ways to reduce errors and categories defects in the production process.
ISO 9004 also outlines ways to measure and analyze quality management. These measurements can help an organization identify areas where improvements can be made. It is important that both the internal and customer-facing processes are measured in order to understand exactly where improvements can be made. Additionally, organizations should use benchmarks and metrics to measure their performance, and use the data collected to focus their efforts on addressing those areas that will best benefit the customer.
The standard does not go into the details of how to manage quality, but instead outlines the approach and activities necessary for effective quality management. It is not intended to replace existing QMS structures, but instead to be used as a guide to help organizations become better in their quality management strategies. ISO 9004 can help organizations better understand the needs of their customers and develop better strategies to meet those needs. By using the standard as guidance, organizations can ensure they are continuously improving and increasing their quality management processes.
