In many cases, in line with the new ISO 9001:2000 standard,organisations will be updating their quality systems from an ISO9001/2/3:1994 basis to address the requirements of the 2000 edition.

This section provides a quick glance at the major changes for the 2000 edition of the standard. It is for information purposes only, and does not aim to cover every detail and nuance of the standard.

• The previous 3 models have been merged, and there is now only one certification standard (9001). All organisations will address the same standard, but may exclude certain clauses where they are not relevant.
• Complete renumbering of clauses.
• There is a greater emphasis on controlling processes, and less on documented procedures. In fact, there are now only 6 clauses that require procedures.
• However, you may still choose to use procedures as a means of controlling your various work processes.
• There is a much needed tidy-up of terminology. The previous 'customer-supplier-subcontractor' terminology whereby you (the organisation implementing the quality system) were considered to be the 'supplier', has been replaced with 'customer-organisation-supplier'. This makes much more sense.
• ISO 9004 is now more closely matched with the certification standard. This is likely to be of interest to organisations looking for improvement beyond the requirements for certification purposes.
• New requirement for management to provide evidence of its commitment to quality.
• New requirement for continual or continuous improvement.
• All organisations (regardless of type, size or the service / product they provide), now need to focus on and monitor customer satisfaction. This could be a problem for very small businesses - but should not an insurmountable one.
• The issue of employee competency has been introduced. In many businesses, the issue has been addressed for a long time in the form of 'selection criteria' for job positions, and a programme of employee performance reviews.
• The concept of taking care of customer's intellectual property introduced.
• New requirement to gather and analyse relevant data.
• Much of the wording of clauses has been generally improved to make its intent clearer.

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