ISO 9001

ISO 9001 is a quality management standard. This specific standard describes optimal quality management within a company or an institution. ISO 9001 specifies the requirements for certification of quality management systems in German and English language. That means ISO 9001 defines a minimum requirement for a quality management system, which a company has to fulfill in order to meet requirements of customers and authorities. In addition, the quality management system is subject to a continuous improvement process. Quality management within a company thus includes all measures for planning, controlling and optimizing processes (process optimization) on the basis of specified requirements. With the aim of improving the quality of a product or service. There are many different ISO standards. The principles and requirements of a quality management system are laid down in ISO 9000.

Quality management is used to achieve a certain quality of a product or service within a company. Since the term quality is very abstract and difficult to define uniformly, the ISO develops uniform guidelines and standards that can be measured objectively. In order to achieve a certain quality of products or services within an organization, the planning, steering, control and improvement of processes is optimized – process optimization. The goal of quality management is therefore not only the end product, but the targeted improvement of internal structures, processes and procedures of organizations, with the aim of making all processes measurable. The ISO 9001 standard was formulated to make these steps pictorial and structured.

However, it is important to distinguish in practice between the activities of quality management and an organizational unit. e.g. a department, which is referred to as quality management.