"The goal of this technical specification is the development of a quality management system that provides for continual improvement, emphasizing defect prevention and the reduction of variation and waste in the supply chain."*

"The adoption of a quality management system should be a strategic decision of an organization."*

"This international standard promotes the adoption of a process approach when developing, implementing, and improving the effectiveness of a quality management system to enhance customer satisfaction by meeting customer requirements." "The application of a system of processes within an organization, together with the identification and interactions of these processes, and their management, can be referred to as the process approach."*

Advantages of a process approach:*
* Ongoing control over linkages between individual processes within a system of processes

* Emphasizes the importance of:
-- Understanding and fulfilling requirements
-- The need to consider processes in terms of value added
-- Obtaining results of process performance and effectiveness
-- Continual improvement of processes based on objective measurement

*ISO/TS 16949:2002(E) 2nd edition 2002-03-01 IATF final Draft; July 26