Clause 8.5.4 Preservation

Sometimes to ensure product or service conformity organizations must control and prevent situations that lead to deterioration, loss, theft, end of validity, tampering, and so on.

For example, raw materials while at a warehouse may be deteriorated due to high or low temperatures, or the level of humidity may be lost due to animal contamination or mixing with other substances. During manufacturing, dust or other types of contamination may generate product nonconformities. The finished product may be lost because temperature and humidity are not controlled, or handling is not well suited (remember the warning phrase “Fragile” in packaging). Finished products may also be lost due to bad practices at the warehouse, new batches are shipped before old batches until validity time is run-up.

For example, at a restaurant consider temperature and contamination control to avoid food deterioration. An IT service provider considers measures to preserve the server’s performance. A university considers what should be done to ensure that exams are not disclosed.

So, in your organization’s case look for situations like these and think about what should be done to prevent them.

You can find more information below:

• ISO 9001:2015 clause 8.5 Product realization – Practical examples for compliance - https://advisera.com/9001academy/blog/2015/11/03/iso-90012015-clause-8-5-product-realization-practical-examples-for-compliance/
• Free online training ISO 9001:2015 Foundations Course – https://advisera.com/training/iso-9001-foundations-course/
• Book - Discover ISO 9001:2015 Through Practical Examples - https://advisera.com/books/discover-iso-9001-2015-through-practical-examples/