The webinar was given by Nigel Croft, who is the Chairman of ISO Subcommittee ISO/TC 176/SC 2, Quality Systems. He provided an interesting perspective on the original mission of the standard and the mission of ISO 9001: 2015.

Original Mission:

To establish generic quality management system requirements that provide the foundations to build confidence in goods and services delivered throughout the supply chain to organizations and people worldwide.

ISO 9001: 2015 Mission:

To develop High Quality voluntary international standards which facilitate international exchange of goods and services, supports sustainable and equitable economic growth, promotes innovation and protects health, safety and the environment.

The above mission was influenced by an extensive survey, which indicated the following global concerns:

• Increased customer expectations for confidence in products and services
• Increasing use of QMS standards for global trade
• Increased use of ISO 9001 by various industry sectors: Healthcare, Aerospace, government, telecommunication
• Credibility of 3rd party certification
• Drive for greater efficiency (lean initiatives)
• Increased sophistication of quality management tools
• Increasing regulatory emphasis on public health and safety (food, medical devices)

Future concepts taken into consideration in ISO 9001: 2015 include the following:

• Integration of "Risk Based thinking"
• Better alignment with business processes
• Outputs matter (product conformity and process effectiveness)
• Knowledge Management
• Life Cycle Management 

In summary:

The primary use of the standard is to provide confidence in companies products.

The secondary purpose is organizational improvement.

"ISO 9001 is a documented system NOT a system of documents."