Example quality manual
Atetsade,
I've attached an example Quality Manual for a fictional company, showing one way that you could number the introductory sections. In the example QM, section 1 is "Introduction and process diagram," section 2 is "Scope and exclusions," section 3 is "Quality policy." Then section 4 picks up with the basic requirements of ISO 9001:2000 in user-friendly words (not necessarily the exact verbiage from the standard). As Dave B. pointed out, this is certainly not a requirement, though it could have some advantages.
Why include *your translation* of the requirements of ISO 9001:2000 in the quality manual? Here are a few reasons, some of which have already been mentioned;
1) Many registrars require in their contracts that the Quality Manual "include a commitment to all the requirements in ISO
9001:2000," or some such language. This can be accomplished by including your version of the verbiage from ISO 9001:2000.
2) Having the verbiage of the standard also allows the organization to
customize it in a way that makes sense to them. They can translate the
requirements into terms they're familiar with. The standard becomes
understandable throughout their organization.
3) Having the verbiage from the standard (or customized verbiage, preferably) facilitates an elaboration on exactly HOW the organization plans to meet some of the requirements. The standard in many places asks the organization to "define" or "determine" things that don't warrant stand-alone procedures, and the Quality Manual is a good place to put this kind of detail. Including the language from the standard puts these things in a context that's understandable. Without the verbiage from the standard, it's often hard to understand why the clarification is being provided.
4) Having a Quality Manual with the verbiage from the standard is a
good starting point in an audit. That way, you can put the standard
away and simply use their Quality Manual (with also will include
additional valuable detail).
Feel free to use or edit the example I've attached. It is by no means a 'best practice,' just one more example to throw into the pot and stir around. A significant weakness is that the example doesn't do a good job of translating the standard into use-friendly terms (...I got tired of working on it).
CC
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Craig Cochran
Center for International Standards & Quality
Georgia Institute of Technology
[email protected]