Evaluation of the transition process from ISO 9001:2008 to ISO 9001:2015: a study focused on chemical companies in the State of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

Abstract The ISO 9001 norm has been widely used in the implementation and maintenance of Quality Management Systems (QMS) in Brazil and all over the world. This study aims to identify the chemical companies’ perceptions of the ISO 9001 transition: version 2008 to version 2015, in the State of Rio Grande do Sul. In this context, the methodology used was a survey research with a structured questionnaire based on the 5-points Likert’s scale. This questionnaire was sent to all chemical companies certified in ISO 9001, located in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. In addition, quality managers of three of these companies replied to semi-structured interviews with open questions. In general, the companies agree with the changes brought by the new version of the norm and believe it to be beneficial to the organization. Although some companies haven’t made much towards this update and point out difficulties in implementing the new norm’s requirements, most of the companies consider the ISO 9001:2015 better than its previous version. It can be asserted that the companies that choose to adopt these modifications due to concerns about a continuous improvement of the QMS will have greater benefits than those companies that choose to implement the modifications only to keep their certificate valid.