Implementation of a Quality Management System based on ISO9001:2008 and its importance on culture collections

摘要

Culture collections (CC), in order to contribute to a better and sounder preservation ofmicrobial biodiversity, constantly evaluate and analyse methodologies and are facedwith the increasingly need to implement and maintain quality control [2].Micoteca da Universidade do Minho (MUM) is a filamentous fungi culture collectionestablished in May 1996, hosted by the Biological Engineering Centre, which is acentre of excellence integrated in the Institute for Biotechnology and Bioengineering(IBB). MUM has found with the implementation of a Quality Management System(QMS), based on the standard ISO 9001:2008, a way to contribute to this continuoussearch of a better Quality [1].The implementation of the QMS occurred for almost 1 year during which 3 mainsteps were developed. The first step was the planning of the QMS, followed by thedesign of the system and documental development and the third step was theimplementation of the QMS with the achievement of the certification in May 2011,from the independent assessment agency (Portuguese Association for Certification -APCER with the International Certification Network - IQNet). From this date onMUM has kept on performing QMS revision and pursuing a continuous improvement.From the analysis of the data, existing since the QMS implementation, it was possibleto conclude that, when comparing the first year with the second year of the System,there was an increase on the demand of services supplied, noted through the increaseon the number of customers that request the service of supply and number of strainsrequested. MUM, is a specialised CC that keeps on gaining recognition from otherSession 15: Biological resource centers: quality managementsystemsentities and acknowledgement of its services proving that the implementation of aQMS is an asset that should set an example to other CCs.