ABSTRACT
In ISO 9001:2015 there are requirements to determine the sequence and interaction of processes, determine the resources needed for them, evaluate them, ensure these processes achieve their intended results and requirements for promoting the use of the process approach. This chapter examines the common definition of a process and the way the word process is used and explores the ISO definitions and how they have changed since 1987. The procedural approach is about doing a task, conforming to the rules, doing what we are told to do, whereas the process approach is about understanding needs, finding the best way of fulfilling these needs, checking whether the needs are being satisfied and in the best way and checking whether our understanding of these needs remains valid. The process approach is a way of managing work which focuses on the objective of the work rather than on the objective of the function that performs it.
