Overview
EN ISO 9004:2018 / ISO 9004:2018 - Quality management - Guidance to achieve sustained success - provides guidance to enhance an organization’s ability to achieve sustained success. Intended as guidance rather than a certification standard, ISO 9004:2018 is consistent with the quality management principles of ISO 9000:2015 and is applicable to any organization, regardless of size, type or activity. The standard includes a practical self-assessment tool to review how well an organization has adopted its concepts.
Key topics
ISO 9004:2018 covers broad, practical elements of organizational quality and sustained performance, including:
- Context of the organization: identifying external/internal issues and relevant interested parties.
- Identity: mission, vision, values and culture that influence long‑term performance.
- Leadership: strategic direction, policy, objectives and communication.
- Process management: defining, assigning responsibility and managing key processes.
- Resource management: people, competence, organizational knowledge, technology, infrastructure and natural resources.
- Performance analysis and evaluation: performance indicators, analysis, internal audits, reviews and the self‑assessment tool.
- Improvement, learning and innovation: continual improvement, organizational learning and innovation guidance.
- Annex A provides an informative self‑assessment tool to benchmark adoption and progress.
Practical applications
ISO 9004:2018 is practical for organizations seeking to:
- Move beyond compliance to enhance long‑term resilience and sustained success.
- Align strategy, processes and resources to improve overall organizational quality.
- Implement structured performance evaluation using indicators and self‑assessment.
- Promote leadership engagement, employee empowerment and organizational learning.
- Support decision making on investments in technology, infrastructure and people.
Typical users:
- Top management and executive teams driving strategic quality initiatives.
- Quality managers and operational leaders integrating quality with business planning.
- Consultants and advisors focused on organizational performance and continuous improvement.
- Public sector bodies, SMEs and large enterprises seeking non‑prescriptive guidance for sustainable success.
Related standards
- ISO 9000:2015 - Fundamentals and vocabulary for quality management (consistent with ISO 9004).
- ISO 9001:2015 - Requirements for quality management systems (certifiable standard that organizations often use alongside ISO 9004).
ISO 9004:2018 is a guidance standard that complements ISO 9001 and ISO 9000, helping organizations translate quality management principles into long‑term, sustainable performance improvements.