1. INTRODUCTION
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play a critical role in economies around the world.
To remain competitive, SMEs must be capable of delivering high quality products and services
on-time at a reasonable cost. In response to these competitive pressures and customer demand,
many SMEs have developed ISO 9001 quality management systems (QMS).
ISO 9001 is an international standard that specifies the basic requirements for a QMS. The two
primary objectives of the standard are to help an organization demonstrate its ability to meet
customer and regulatory requirements and to enhance customer satisfaction. To that end, the
standard contains key requirements clauses focusing on (1) the QMS in general, (2) management
responsibility, (3) resource management, (4) product realization, and (5) measurement, analysis,
and improvement. Originally released in 1987, the standard was updated in 1994, 2000, and