Assuring Product Success with ISO 9001?

Abstract

Several research projects have been conducted, and several reports and books have been written with the hope of finding the factors important for successful new product development. This article compares the portions of ISO 9001 related to new product development with relevant research results. The conclusion is that ISO 9001 is mainly concerned with the formal written documentation of the development process, the adherence to these documents, documentation of the result, and qualification of personnel and resources available to the project. But ISO 9001 does not include all the elements necessary for assuring a successful product development, such as customer contact, teamwork, consistent project team, authority of the team leader, or design for manufacturability.