ISO 9001:2008 for Small Businesses - Tapa dura

This book has several gems and would be of value to a consultant, trainer or a company in either a high-value, low-volume or low-value, high-volume operation that has the services of a dedicated quality professional.

David Hendren, Qualityworld magazine

Quality Management remains one of the fundamental ways by which organisations coordinate and maximise the value of their resources. Despite this it remains a considerable challenge to all organisations, particularly smaller enterprises. This text is a useful guide for those that are either beginning the journey toward ISO 9001 or are refining their existing systems.

Gareth White, Senior Lecturer, C-SCOPE, University of Glamorgan

Small businesses face many challenges today, including the increasing demand by larger companies for ISO compliance. Compliance is a challenging task for any organisation and can often be time consuming and costly, particularly for small businesses who are unlikely to have quality assurance experts on the payroll. However, it is still possible to achieve compliance without the need for expensive consultancy or training that takes you out of the office! Ray Tricker has already guided hundreds of businesses through the challenge and this, the 5th edition of his life-saving ISO guide, has been rewritten and refined following 5 years' field use of working with the standard.

The one area that an organisation (particularly a small business) always wants to know is ‘how much is it going to cost to implement and operate a QMS compliant with ISO 9001: 2008 – and is it going to be worth the trouble?!’ Due to popular demand, Edition 5 now includes a brand new chapter on the cost of implementing ISO 9001:2008.

This edition provides:

• Relevant examples that put the concepts and requirements of the standard into a real-life context
• Down to earth explanations to help you determine what you need to work in compliance with and/or achieve certification to ISO 9001:2008
• An example of a complete, generic, Quality Management System consisting of a Quality Manual plus a whole host of Quality Processes, Quality Procedures and Work Instructions
• Access to a free, software copy of this generic QMS files (available from the author) to give you a starting-point from which to develop your own documentation.

ISO 9001:2008 is the most widely followed quality management standard and the rewards can be great, opening up new business opportunities, as well as bringing real improvements to your processes and outputs.