It is claimed that ISO 9001 (and ISO 14001) are applicable internationally across any organisation. How does ISO 9001:2008 allow for the diversity of a one-man band through to a multinational manufacturing company or utility company? Well, ISO 9001:2008 specifies the requirements a quality system must meet, but does not detail how they should be met. This leaves a great deal of scope and flexibility for implementation in wildly differing organisations and sectors. When (or more likely, if) people look in detail at ISO 9001:2008 they are usually surprised how non-prescriptive it is. There is great flexibility as to how it is implemented.
