Buckman Laboratories have recently made a successful transition of their Memphis and Cadet (Missouri) sites to the ISO 9001-2000 international quality management system standard. The Memphis audit was conducted in early August and Cadet’s audit was carried out later the same month.
Quality Systems Registrars (QSR) conducted the audits for both sites. Every five years the ISO standards are reassessed and any necessary revisions are made. Companies wishing to continue their ISO 9000 status must implement any revisions by December 2003.
Some of the essential changes to the standards include a greater emphasis on senior management’s involvement with the quality management system in several areas including planning, communication and management review. The new standard also requires more evidence of customer focus and on setting measurable quality objectives for product and processes.