Revision of ISO 9001:2015 not until 2026

CONTENT

• Focus on a high-quality revision
• Revision of ISO 9001: new and changed requirements
• Revision of ISO 9001: milestones to date
• Expert statements
• Video: Online discussion on the topic of risk
• The ISO 9001 Revision of 2015
• Revision of ISO 9001 - a brief summary
• DQS - Simply leveraging Quality

Focus on a high-quality revision

This decision was necessary because the current status of the document was not ready for the next step - publication as a Draft International Standard (DIS). Thomas Votsmeier, Head of Standardization at the German Association for Quality (DGQ) and member of the ISO committee, explained that there were still unresolved structural issues and a large number of comments to be processed. In addition, a coordinated explanatory annex was missing. These aspects made the additional draft necessary to ensure a high quality revision of the standard.

Further meetings of Technical Committee 176 of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) will take place in September 2024. The remaining comments and the structure of the annex will be discussed. An updated schedule describing the next steps in the revision process will also be presented.

What experts would like from the revision

The target corridor for a revised ISO 9001 is currently the end of 2025. The expectations for a revised QM standard that takes into account the topics of today and tomorrow already exist. We have been asking.

The risk-based approach is a recurring theme throughout ISO 9001 since the 2015 revision, as it is a core task of the quality management system to have a preventive effect. In the current version of the standard, the consideration of opportunities also plays a role. Unfortunately, this has hardly been implemented in practice, as my current research project shows: Opportunity management is systematically neglected. Yet the global parameters of what quality can and must achieve have changed rapidly over the past decade. An organization that wants to not only survive, but also profit from the sometimes chaotic conditions of the VUCA* world and satisfy its relevant stakeholders must also manage its opportunities.

As part of TG 4 (Future Topics "Risk"), we found that this is true for organizations around the world. The resulting TG 4 "Risk Paper" therefore proposes that risks and opportunities be understood as two different concepts for dealing with change, and that they be systematically decoupled from each other. Opportunity-based thinking would then exist alongside risk-based thinking. This idea is currently being discussed controversially in the context of the revision of ISO 9000 and 9001.

In my opinion, the revision of ISO 9000 and ISO 9001 would benefit from raising the bar for dealing with risks and opportunities. This is because an organization that wants to position itself for the future cannot avoid the targeted definition and control of integrated risk and opportunity management (IRCM). An IRCM goes far beyond what can be found in organizations today. Should the revision of the standard pave the way, even top management would benefit directly: Through better, coordinated decision templates that enable faster and more appropriate decisions for company-specific actions.

*The VUCA model describes the changes in today‘s world. The acronym VUCA stands for Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity.

The revision of ISO 9001 will undoubtedly expand the stakeholder focus to include a user orientation of the management system. At its core, a quality management system contains an information model that links the various aspects, processes, and tools with one another. This essential information, methods, and processes must be made available to the different user groups in the organization in a user-oriented manner. The structure of the management system should only be based on the individual sections of the standard if the organization allows it. Otherwise, it must be adapted to ensure targeted information.

In addition to internal audits and the annual management review, managers and process owners must be held even more responsible through independent verification of the effectiveness of a management system. Key figures and stress tests can contribute to this, demonstrating not only the performance of the organization but also that of the local management system component. It is crucial that the management system be broken down and applied to each individual area in a systematic and verifiable manner.

The objective of fulfilling customer requirements is a core aspect of ISO 9001. In addition to the collection and evaluation of customer requirements, the customer can now assert themselves in processes. While external providers were given further detailed requirements in the last revision of the standard, the customer is perhaps even more relevant when it comes to integration into processes, learning from mistakes and delight factors. "Customer experience" is the relevant buzzword here.

This prompts several inquiries: To what extent is the customer integrated into the processes, process descriptions, and swimlanes? What customer experiences do customers have at the touchpoints and in communication with the company? What mistakes do customers make and how can these be rectified? How can we truly engage the customer as part of CIP? Is there a customer idea management system?

Do you have answers to all these questions? If so, your company is certainly  "customer savvy". As early as 2011, such aspects were presented in the German DIN SPEC 77224 - Achieving customer delight through service excellence." I believe this is a useful guide to involving the customer and taking a closer look at the organization.

It is also important to consider the role of employees in this process. As stated in DIN SPEC 77224, enthusiastic employees can often inspire customers. Therefore, if the topic of customer experience is being considered for revision of the standard, it is likely that this is because of the impact it can have on the wider management system.

As part of the discussion about what the revision of ISO 9001:2015 will contain, there is always speculation about which sustainability topics and verification requirements will be included in the standard. The fact is that apart from the topic of "climate change", which has made it into section 4 of the standard via the new "Harmonized Structure" for management systems, no further sustainability topics will be added. It remains to be seen what practical effects this will have. The scope of ISO 9001:2025 has a different focus and I therefore expect that there will be no impact other than a clear statement.

Furthermore, there are no other product-related sustainability topics in the draft revision. This is not necessary, as the relevant sustainability requirements for products and services are already included in section 8.2. Although legal requirements, for example on CSR reporting, are binding for all companies, they are not related to the scope of the standard and therefore play no role here.

ISO 9001 therefore remains a standard that focuses on quality management and is not diluted by other non-scope requirements. 

My expectation of the revision of ISO 9001:2015 is that the conversion effort for organizations will be minimized and at the same time an improved, demonstrable implementation quality will be achieved. The revision of the quality management standard should help to intensify the focus on quality worldwide, establish more effective and environmentally friendly processes and further increase customer satisfaction.

We welcome the fact that the revision focuses on selected "emerging trends" that are crucial for a quality management system. This implies that new technologies and business models are integrated into the requirements in order to meet future market demands.

Despite the adjustments, ISO 9001 should remain a generic standard that is applicable to organizations of different sectors and sizes worldwide. This approach enables a uniform, reliable assessment of quality systems and creates trust among customers and business partners.

Processes, their expected results and sequence as well as resources must be determined and availability ensured. Do these requirements of ISO 9001:2015 still fit into today's and, above all, tomorrow's world, in which flexibility, resilience, agility and change are increasingly important criteria for success? My answer is: yes and no, or rather it depends - on the organization or the business unit. Service providers and service areas in organizations particularly need to work in an agile and flexible manner. Can the outcome of a process be planned or determined? No, often not. This must be taken into account in the revision of ISO 9001.

Resilience and agility of the organization as new standard requirements are meaningful, but are not sufficient on their own. Requirements must be determined with regard to a corporate culture based on trust instead of power and control, a culture of positive leadership and change, and the sustainable use of the opportunities offered by digitalization.

In addition, personnel-intensive areas that cannot be digitized easily or replaced by AI are particularly exposed to the consequences of demographic and population change, as well as the radically changed expectations of the younger generation. Human resources are therefore one of the essential risks that ISO 9001 should address with additional requirements.

ISO 9001 is being revised after all. And why shouldn't it?

I am actually opposed to a revision. And I'm not the only one, because in the deciding vote of the ISO/TC 176 SC2 technical committee in summer 2023, there were 25 votes against. But also 36 votes in favor. 36 is more than 25, so the decision has been made and we will now think about the 36 committee members who believe a revision is essential. What is driving them?

There are indeed several topics that are considered worthy of integration, perhaps even necessary. These are - at the very least - "adjustments with regard to resilience, supply chain management, change management, sustainability, dealing with risks [and] organizational knowledge". Based on what I have learned since 2015, I wonder: even more focus on "risks"? In my view, this topic features quite prominently in the current standard. The fact that in practice, it is not treated the same way, well, that's not really the standard's fault. But what is surprising is that there is no additional, heightened, perhaps even sharpened focus on "opportunities"?

Opportunities?

Opportunities! A topic covered by the norm and hardly present in daily practice. We are so busy defending ourselves against risks, i.e. defending ourselves against what we might lose, that we no longer have time to look at opportunities, i.e. what we might gain. From my point of view, that would be a topic to focus on. The future is defined above all by making use of opportunities. Focusing solely on risks - however necessary - primarily preserves the status quo. Safeguarding the status quo in a highly dynamic context? As difficult as it is dangerous!

In this context, we may ask to what extent the focus on "sustainability" threatens the existing, the tried and tested, the successful ... and how it can be averted to the extent possible. We may ask this question. Perhaps adding: "What's next?"

But wouldn't it also be possible to ask what opportunities can be found in this topic? Not opportunities in the sense of "even more", "even cheaper" and "even faster". Perhaps the question may also be asked about opportunities for current and future "interested parties": not just "status quo quality", but "future quality". And haven't topics such as "artificial intelligence" rushed from a distant horizon directly into our own time? And here they are. And now what?

ISO 9001 is being revised! I am now in favor of it after all. But the revision won't be easy. But then again, what is easy about quality management? At least if you understand and make use of it correctly.

The ISO 9001 revision from 2015

The "major revision" of ISO 9001:2015 for quality management systems was the talk of the town at the time: the context of the organization, the consideration of relevant interested parties, the focus on the responsibility of top management, the knowledge of the organization and the risk-based approach are just some of the keywords behind which there is considerable potential for improvement in business practice.

The then-new, harmonized basic structure (High Level Structure HLS) and the new requirements required a rethink in many cases. In addition to major changes, the revision of ISO 9001 at that time also included numerous small improvements that help companies to make their management system fit for the future.

Revision of ISO 9001 - a brief summary

The revision of ISO 9001 has been delayed until 2026, and key issues such as ethics and integrity, vision, mission and values, quality culture, and managing opportunities and risks will play an important role in the revision. In addition, the structure of the standard will be adapted to the "Harmonized Structure" to enable better coordination with other management system standards. Clarification of specific requirements, particularly in the explanatory Annex, is also planned. These points illustrate the importance of careful planning and implementation of the revision in order to develop a sound and future-oriented version of the standard. ISO 9000 (Quality management systems - Fundamentals and vocabulary) and ISO 19011 (Guidelines for auditing management systems) are also included in the revision.

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