In April 2018, the revised ISO 9004:2018 was published. In the following, some facets from the history of this standard, the objectives of the revision, and significant changes are addressed.
ISO 9004 was originally conceived in 1994 as a guide for the application of ISO 9001. In 2000, the aspiration went further: the standard was developed together with ISO 9001 as a consistent pair and contained extended requirements compared to it, as well as guidance on self-assessment for the first time. ISO 9001, however, was still included in the standard as a basis.
In 2009, this pairing was then removed - the 2009 version was designed as an independent standard for improving an organization with a bridging function to the models of excellence (Malcom Baldrige Award, EFQM model, and others).
This bridging function continues with the 2018 version. The current version claims to be a guide for sustainable business success. This is equated with the concept of "quality of the organization".
