ISO 9001

What is ISO 9001?

The ISO 9001 Quality Management System (QMS) is the world’s most popular quality management standard, with over one million certified organisations in 180 countries worldwide. ISO 9001 provides a quality management framework that companies can use to ensure the quality of their products and services is consistent. Companies choose ISO 9001 certification to show that they have taken due care to maintain high standards. This reduces the chance of product faults and recalls or service shortcomings and ensures that your customers can buy with confidence.

What are the benefits of an ISO 9001 certification?

ISO 9001 certification demonstrates your organisation’s ability to consistently meet and exceed customer expectations. Many enterprise buyers and retailers require their suppliers to be ISO 9001 certified in order to minimise their risk of purchasing a poor product or service – being ISO 9001 certified boosts your sales potential. A business that achieves ISO 9001 certification can attain significant improvements in organisational efficiency and product quality by minimising waste and errors and increasing productivity. Our comprehensive guideline on ISO 9001 provides useful information on requirements and benefits.

Download free TÜV SÜD ISO 9001 Guideline

Proposed timeline for ISO 9001 revision

The ISO 9001 quality management standard is being revised by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). This update aims to adapt the standard to current challenges and global changes. The new standard is expected to be released by the end of 2026.

Third-party certification by TÜV SÜD

TÜV SÜD is a leading provider of management systems solutions, having issued tens of thousands of management systems certificates to businesses of all sizes across the globe. Our dedicated global team of experienced auditors help you explore the possibility of integrating your ISO 9001 certification initiative with other management systems. We can also act as a one-stop provider for all your management system certification needs by offering integrated management system services.

In addition to offering comprehensive evaluations and reports, we can provide you with our TÜV SÜD certification mark, which is globally recognised and synonymous with quality and safety.

Steps to your ISO 9001 certification

Before you can initiate the certification process, your organisation will need to implement a quality management system according to ISO 9001 requirements and its effectiveness must be thoroughly documented.

For the certification process itself, the following steps have been established:

1. Documentation review audit: TÜV SÜD evaluates your documentation and company records
2. On-site audit: TÜV SÜD reviews the compliance of your actual activities to ISO 9001 requirements and company records.
3. Close the gap: Your organisation identifies and implements measures to correct the root cause of any non-conformances identified by the audit
4. Certification issuance: TÜV SÜD issues the ISO 9001 certification and certification mark
5. Surveillance audits: Annual audit required to maintain certification validity (Unannounced audits may occur in special cases)