What is a process map?
Every organisation is made up of many activities that keep the company running, both internally and externally. These activities are usually grouped into blocks according to the goal they serve. In other words, companies have a set of activities organised to carry out a process, and that process in turn works alongside other processes to deliver the business’s products or services.
Just as business activities are related to one another, so are processes, and defining those relationships is what we call the organisation’s process map.
A process map lets you show the processes and how they relate to each other. The main task in building one is to identify the company’s processes and link them to one another in a structured way, according to the order in which they run.
How do you build a process map?
Before defining the structure, you need to classify the processes. They are usually sorted into three categories:
- Operational processes: the ones the company relies on to carry out its core business.
- Strategic processes: they steer the whole system towards continual improvement.
- Support processes: they sustain the rest and hold the whole together.
Once they are classified, you draw the map according to those categories. Visually, operational processes go in the centre of the map, with strategic processes above and support processes below: the former steer the rest and the latter sustain them. On the left go the requirements and needs of interested parties, which is where everything starts, and on the right the products and services they receive.
In addition, operational processes should be shown in sequence from left to right, so that it is easy to follow the processes the company goes through to deliver its final product or service to the customer.
Process map example
Below is an example of an ISO 9001 process map for a company that has implemented a Quality Management System in line with ISO 9001:2015.
Strategic processes
Operational processes
Support processes
In this ISO 9001 process map, the operational processes start with product management and end with the product in production and customer support. In between sit the processes needed to develop the product. These are the ones that allow the company to deliver its product or service to its customers.
The strategic and support processes run in parallel. The strategic block includes the ISO 9001:2015 strategic processes: planning, risk assessment, audits, customer satisfaction assessment and objectives. Finally, the support processes are the ones needed to run all of the above: HR, Administration, Marketing, IT, Security and Compliance.
Is there a standard that certifies this process approach?
Yes, ISO 9001, which sets out a process-based Quality Management System. The current version is ISO 9001:2026, published in September 2026; the process approach was already in ISO 9001:2015, which the diagram below comes from. This means that, as well as requiring the company’s process map, its requirements call for each process to be described individually.
For each process on the map you need to set out its inputs and outputs, along with all the information available (activities, measurement, resources, risks and opportunities, etc.), following this diagram:
Process characterisation
Inputs and outputs of a process under the ISO 9001:2015 approach
Source: ISO 9001:2015 diagram
Here is what the sheet for a common support process might look like. ISO 9001 requires you to determine, for each process, its inputs and outputs, the sequence of activities, the criteria and methods for measuring it, the resources, the people responsible and the risks and opportunities, and a process sheet is the easiest way to keep all of that together.
- Purchase requests from business areas
- Approved supplier list (Quality)
- Purchase order issued (to the supplier)
- Inspected material (to the requesting area)
- Supplier evaluation (to Quality)
- Relying on a single supplier for a critical material
- Accepting a delivery without inspecting it
What changes with ISO 9001:2026
ISO published ISO 9001:2026 on 16 September 2026. It replaces ISO 9001:2015 and its 2024 climate change amendment, keeps the common structure of management system standards and puts more emphasis on leadership, quality culture and risks and opportunities.
If you already work with a process map, this is an update, not a change of approach: the map and the process sheets remain the backbone of the system. What is worth doing is reviewing them against the new text before the transition audit.
The deadlines were set by the ISO technical committee (ISO/TC 176): organisations certified to ISO 9001:2015 have until 30 September 2029 to move to the new version, and from 31 March 2028 initial accredited certifications will only be issued against ISO 9001:2026. Source: ISO/TC 176.
How GlobalSuite Solutions can help
Defining the process map is the first step; keeping it up to date and connected to measurement and continual improvement is what makes it useful. That is where we come in.
At GlobalSuite Solutions we offer the GlobalSuite® tool to implement ISO 9001. With GlobalSuite® software you can maintain your Quality Management System, including the regular review of the company’s processes to improve management and the products or services delivered to customers. You can also manage it using the work already done by the different departments, so the effort is centralised. And with a balanced scorecard and our integration with Power BI, senior management gets an overall view of the state of its management system, the improvement opportunities identified and early warning of any deviation.
Want to see how it would work in your organisation? Request a demo and we will show you.
