3. Objectives of a quality management system (QMS)

Whether it's the ISO 9001 standard, or one of its industry-specific derivatives (EN 9100 or ISO-TS 16949), or the ISO/CEI 170xx series of conformity assessment standards, the primary aim of setting up a quality management system is to provide the company's top manager with a governance tool, and to instill confidence in the company's customers and stakeholders (shareholders or members, staff, regulatory authorities) of the laboratory or organization.

• Building confidence

  For a laboratory, it is above all a question of giving confidence to its principals, customers and regulatory authorities in the quality and durability of its analysis, testing or calibration services, in particular by being able to demonstrate a posteriori the implementation of all the pre-established measures to create this confidence, and secondarily...