The Fascinating Story of How the American Petroleum Institute Created the World’s Leading Quality Management System Standard for Oil and Gas Companies Since 1985, the API Spec Q1 quality management system (QMS) standard has helped enterprises in the energy sector improve their efficiency and safety, while simultaneously helping them to manage their environmental impact. As one of the first quality management system standards, the API Spec Q1 standard has continued to grow wit

How the American Petroleum Institute’s Industry Standard Quality Management System Can Help Your Business Improve Efficiency This introduction to API Q1, one of the most widely-used and significant quality management standards, demonstrates how its applicability extends beyond the oil and gas industry and can benefit manufacturers and subcontractors as well. This article will serve as the first in a series of guides that will provide a comprehensive overview of the API Q1 sta

How a Simple Japanese Aphorism Helps Counteract Murphy’s Law and Contributes to Defensive Design Among popular business axioms, perhaps none is more universally known than Murphy’s Law. Often quoted as “anything that can go wrong will go wrong,” the adage is used to describe the inevitability of error, particularly human error, in foiling the best-laid plans. However, simply giving in to Murphy’s Law without a fight guarantees failure. Thus, businesses have for decades sought

In 2026, save time and money by making quality management a priority for your company.

Looking Ahead to a Quality-Focused 2026 The holiday season and New Year brings us to a time of reflection: what we’ve done well, and how we can do better. For companies that strive to achieve excellence, there is no area more important than Quality Management. It quite literally defines whether an organization will suitably function, and whether their products and services will meet expectations. Yet far too many companies lack a Quality Management System (QMS) that can guide

Does Your Organization’s Quality Management System (QMS) Conform to International Standards? In quality management, the key idea is and has always been compliance . Quality managers emphasize that they are complying with rules, regulations, laws – and the company’s quality management system (QMS). But what does the QMS itself comply with? And who assesses if the QMS is valid? This is where the idea of conformance comes to the fore. While ‘complying’ means that a system obeys

With the ISO’s technical committee now convening at regular intervals to begin defining and drafting the next version of ISO 9001, the...

The applicability and suitability of ISO 9001 for various companies and organizations can be further expanded via the usage of related...

Although ISO 9001 is a comprehensive standard for application across diverse use cases, there are some industries with particularly...

Just as every book has an author, so too does every QMS standard. The author of the ‘book’ of quality management guidance in the case of...

Discover how ISO 9001, the world’s most widely-used quality management standard, guides over 1.2 million organizations globally. Learn about its history, flexibility, global relevance, and the powerful role of the ISO in shaping consistent quality systems across industries.

Since the 1950s, American companies have gradually embraced quality management systems (QMS). This adoption has yielded significant benefits, increasing product and workplace quality while improving employee satisfaction, productivity, profitability, and safety. But did you know that many of the concepts underlying quality management have actually come from Japan? In this article series, we will explore one of the best-known Japanese quality frameworks, known as the “ 5S (Fiv

Explore how the 5S framework fosters responsibility, order, and culture within teams. Discover its evolution into 6S and 7S, and why it’s more than just a tidying method—it’s a foundation for workplace transformation.

Since the 1950s, American companies have gradually embraced quality management systems (QMS). This adoption has yielded significant benefits, increasing product and workplace quality while improving employee satisfaction, productivity, profitability, and safety. But did you know that many of the concepts underlying quality management have actually come from Japan? In this article series, we will explore one of the best-known Japanese quality frameworks, known as the “ 5S (Fiv

Since the 1950s, American companies have gradually embraced quality management systems (QMS). This adoption has yielded significant benefits, increasing product and workplace quality while improving employee satisfaction, productivity, profitability, and safety. But did you know that many of the concepts underlying quality management have actually come from Japan? In this article series, we will explore one of the best-known Japanese quality frameworks, known as the “ 5S (Fiv

This in-depth guide introduces the 5S framework, a cornerstone of Japanese workplace organization. Each principle — from Sort to Self — is explained with its original Japanese term, accurate translation, and real-world application. Discover how 5S builds clarity, reduces waste, empowers employees, and fosters disciplined, self-sustaining workplace cultures. Whether you're just starting with lean practices or refining an existing QMS, this 5S article series can help you improv