A quality manual is a document that outlines an organisation's quality management system (QMS).
In the past, a company seeking ISO 9001 certification would typically keep a big folder - sometimes several big folders - full of important documents related to their QMS. This unwieldy stack of forms, procedures, policies and so forth was sometimes referred to as a 'quality manual'.
But a quality manual doesn't have to include all of those things. In fact, a quality manual can just be a single document that sets out the intent for your quality management system and how it will operate.
SEE ALSO: What is a quality manual?
Is a quality manual required for ISO 9001 certification?
Not always. There's a lot of debate around this, but there are some certification industry experts who feel that quality manuals are no longer necessary at all.
Here at ISO Accelerator, we do provide each of our clients with a quality manual as part of our ISO 9001 certification service. But don't worry - this is provided digitally, so you won't have to find room for a heavy folder full of policy documents.
Because every company is different, we work closely with each client to develop a QMS (and a quality manual) that's tailored to their unique requirements. So the precise contents of your quality manual will depend on the nature of your organisation and the goals of your quality management system.
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