Threat: competition.
Every company on earth could write that line. You'll pull issues from the late-order log, NCRs, customer letters and the people in purchasing and maintenance, and write each one with a fact, a source and its effect on results.
ISO 9001 Quality path · ISO 9001:2026 · self-paced
AI can write a SWOT in ten seconds.Be the one who knows which risk is real.
Your risk register has 41 rows.Make sure one of them sees what's coming.
AI is changing your job.Be the one who makes it deliver.
Read your context with SWOT and PESTLE from real evidence, name what your interested parties require, write risks and opportunities someone can act on, prove the actions worked, and build the quality culture the 2026 edition asks leaders to promote.
- About 6 hours of lessons
- Six modules and labs
- Coach Q included
- Human-scored final case study
- Final exam and certificate
AI assistant draft: "Update our SWOT for ISO 9001:2026"
Strengths: ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certified; strong on-time delivery.
Opportunities: use our existing AS9100 approval to enter aerospace.
Threats: competition; Westline's contract ends in 2028.
COACH Q
Is "strong on-time delivery" fine as a strength?
Which record shows it? The customer's letter says 85% against a 95% target. What would you write instead?
Sound familiar?
The register looks calm. The customer finds the problems.
Risk of losing customers. Score 15. Monitor.
Technically true and useless for deciding anything. You'll write cause, event and effect, rate on your own site rule, and pick a response that fits the cause.
Climate change: yes.
Yes to what? ISO 9001:2026 asks you to determine whether climate change is relevant. You'll decide from evidence, either way, and say how you'll keep watching.
We closed that corrective action.
Then the same failure came back less than three weeks later. You'll define what worked means before you act, and test the fix under the condition that caused the risk.
2026
The 2026 edition changed the clauses this course is about.ISO 9001:2026, published Sep 16, 2026
Climate change in 4.1 and 4.2. Quality culture and ethical behaviour in 5.1. Risks and opportunities addressed separately in 6.1. Management review inputs that must be included, with changes in interested parties' needs and risks and opportunities reviewed separately. If your SWOT and register were written for 2015, this is where your transition starts.
What you'll learn
Six modules. One stale register rebuilt.
You follow Tamarack Fluid Components, a fictional 86-person machine shop whose biggest customer just announced it will dual-source. Each lab adds one record, and you build your own alongside.
Module 1 · Context
Read your context: internal and external issues
Start from evidence, not last year's poster. Sort with SWOT and PESTLE, test every line for a fact and an effect, and decide whether climate change is relevant.
- Issue vs risk, and where issues hide
- SWOT and PESTLE used as tools, with facts behind every line
- A climate change determination that holds up either way
Module 2 · Interested parties
Know who expects what
Relevant parties, their relevant requirements, and which ones the QMS must meet. Give every requirement an owner the day it arrives.
- Must meet, chosen or watch
- Climate requirements that arrive through customers
- Changes in needs and expectations, now a management review input
Module 3 · Risks
Turn issues into risks you can act on
Write cause, event and effect. Rate it on your own site rule, because ISO 9001 prescribes none, and fit the response to the cause.
- Risks and opportunities, separate in 2026 (6.1.2 and 6.1.3)
- Same evidence, same rating: scales without theater
- Remove, reduce, share or accept, signed, with a reason
Module 4 · Opportunities
Find and decide on opportunities
An opportunity is not a risk turned around. Cross the SWOT boxes, weigh benefit, cost, capacity, risk and fit, and end in a decision.
- Labeled estimates and a payback you can defend
- The risk an opportunity brings with it
- Pursue, park with a trigger, or drop with a reason
Module 5 · Act and check
Act, embed and prove it worked
Put actions inside the processes that do the work, decide the effectiveness evidence first, watch for knock-on changes and bring honest results to management review.
- Done vs worked, and tests under the right conditions
- Corrective action that updates the register
- A management review input with risks and opportunities separate
Module 6 · Quality culture
Build a culture that sees and speaks
ISO 9001:2026 asks top management to promote a quality culture and ethical behaviour. Read the signals, pick leader behaviors, and set rules for using AI on risk work.
- Why two near-miss reports in nine months is a warning, not a win
- Leader behaviors and incentives that stop problems being hidden
- AI rules: facts in, gaps marked, a person decides
The expert in your pocket
A coach that asks what an auditor would.
Coach Q sits on every screen, set up for this subject. It works on your case, points at the gap and asks one question. It won't write your register, invent a figure or tell you a risk is handled when the evidence doesn't show it.
Default 40 messages per rolling 24 hours. During the final case study and exam it gives navigation help only, so the judgment stays yours.
"Can I mark the heat risk as effective? Zero oversize in 410 parts."
COACH Q
"What was the shop temperature during those 410 parts, and what was it when the bores failed? If the condition that caused the risk wasn't there, what can you honestly say, and when will you know more?"
Illustrative practice exchange. AI suggestions can be wrong; check them against your evidence.
What you walk out with
Six records you can put in front of your general manager.
Build them in the labs on a fictional shop, then reuse the blank records in your Course hub at your own organization.
Context and issues register
Specific issues from evidence, internal and external, with SWOT and PESTLE behind them and a climate determination.
Interested parties register
Relevant parties, their requirements, must-meet or chosen, an owner and a route for changes.
Risk register
Cause, event, effect, rated on your site rule, with a response that fits the cause and an owner.
Opportunity evaluation
Benefit, cost, capacity, risk and fit, estimates labeled, ending in pursue, park or drop.
Action and effectiveness plan
Each action in a process, with a measure, a target and when it gets checked.
Quality culture brief
What the signals say, three leader behaviors, signals to watch and AI rules for the team.
Who built it
Built by a third-party registrar auditor.
Will Trikha
Third-party registrar auditor · 20+ years in aerospace and quality
Will is a third-party registrar auditor with more than 20 years in aerospace and quality. He's COO of PTX Defense, an AS9100D-certified aerospace manufacturer, so he lives with these requirements from the supplier side too. He founded QMS Leader, which implements quality management systems for manufacturers.
He built this course around the records an auditor actually asks for when they reach clauses 4 to 6, and around the ways registers go stale: generic issues, ratings nobody can defend, actions that closed without working.
What an auditor checks first
Issues with evidence. A context list an auditor can trace: every issue points to a record, data or a person who said it, and someone keeps watching it.
The site's own rule, applied. Whatever scale you chose, a risk the rule says to act on has an action and an owner. Accepting one is signed, with a reason.
Risks and opportunities, separately. The 2026 edition treats them apart, and so does management review. An opportunity list that says "growth, monitor" won't hold.
Worked, not closed. An action counts when the measure tied to the risk moved, under the conditions that caused it. A closed date isn't evidence.
Not another definitions course
A template isn't a risk process.
The usual way
This course
The case
xA list of definitions and a sample register
✓One shop's real mess, carried from a stale SWOT to a management review
The tools
xA SWOT template to fill in
✓SWOT and PESTLE used on evidence, then crossed to find where to push
AI
xIgnored, or trusted
✓An AI draft with invented facts to catch in every lab, and rules for your team
How you prove it
xA multiple-choice quiz
✓An unseen case scored by a person, then a 30-question exam
Inside the course
Six modules · about 6 hours of lessons
- 01
Module 1 · Context
Read your context: internal and external issues
Guided lesson with practice blocks, then a lab that builds your context and issues register, and a coached reflection.
- 02
Module 2 · Interested parties
Know who expects what
Guided lesson with practice blocks, then a lab that builds your interested parties register, and a coached reflection.
- 03
Module 3 · Risks
Turn issues into risks you can act on
Guided lesson with practice blocks, then a lab that builds your risk register, and a coached reflection.
- 04
Module 4 · Opportunities
Find and decide on opportunities
Guided lesson with practice blocks, then a lab that builds your opportunity evaluation, and a coached reflection.
- 05
Module 5 · Act and check
Act, embed and prove it worked
Guided lesson with practice blocks, then a lab that builds your action and effectiveness plan, and a coached reflection.
- 06
Module 6 · Quality culture
Build a culture that sees and speaks
Guided lesson with practice blocks, then a lab that builds your quality culture brief, and a coached reflection.
Then an unseen final case study in one of three fictional organizations (a powder coater, a third-party warehouse, an electronics assembler), six decisions, and a 30-question exam.
Inside the course
The course, step by step.
About 6 hours, self-paced, in short sessions that fit your week.
Read your context: internal and external issues
Context and issues register built from evidence. 2 lessons.
Know who expects what: interested parties
Interested parties register with an owner for every requirement. 2 lessons.
Turn issues into risks you can act on
Risk register with cause, event, effect and proportionate responses. 2 lessons.
Find and decide on opportunities
Opportunity evaluation ending in pursue, park or drop. 2 lessons.
Act, embed and prove it worked
Action and effectiveness plan with a management review input. 2 lessons.
Build a culture that sees and speaks
Quality culture brief for top management. 2 lessons.
Everything you get
Everything included, before the price.
Comparable items priced elsewhere, each named with its source and the date we checked.
Your complete course packageAdding up: $630
The six-module course and practical labs
$350A fictional machine shop's real mess: a stale SWOT, a customer letter, NCRs, interviews and AI drafts that invent facts. Guided lessons with practice blocks, labs, branching conversations, number work and seven visual walkthroughs.
COMPARABLE ANAB, Approaches to Risk-based Thinking in Laboratories (self-paced, about two hours, laboratory focus), checked October 18, 2026.
A final case study scored by a person
$250An unseen organization with its own evidence packet. A QMS Learning reviewer scores it against a six-part rubric and sends written feedback within 5 business days.
COMPARABLE MoreSteam, E-Learning Support, one hour, checked October 18, 2026.
Six registers and plans you keep
$30Context and issues register, interested parties register, risk register, opportunity evaluation, action and effectiveness plan, and quality culture brief. Built in the labs, reusable at work. Value shown counts only the two templates sold separately.
COMPARABLE Sellfy store, "Internal & external issues per AS9100 - ISO 9001 (SWOT/PEST)" $15 and "Interested Parties Template" $15, checked October 18, 2026.
Coach Q in every lesson
IncludedAsks the question a good auditor would and points at the gap. Default 40 messages per rolling 24 hours. It never writes your register or invents a figure.
Final exam and a certificate anyone can verify
Included30 questions, three versions, 24 of 30 to pass, three attempts. Your certificate carries a code anyone can check at academy.qmslearning.com/verify.
Course hub: study plan, Focus 25, journal, Apply at work log
IncludedA study plan that re-plans when your week slips, a focus timer, your saved answers and a log of how you used the method at work. Lessons for life.
Priced elsewhere, piece by piece$630
Your price$195
One person, one time. $435 less than buying the comparable pieces. Lessons for life. Coach Q comes with the course, no subscription and no renewal fee.
People
Enroll for $195
5 or more people get 10% off every seat. Secure checkout by Stripe. 3-day refund.
Third-party names and prices are shown for comparison only. Different formats and content; not a claim that they are equivalent.
The honest comparison
Three ways to learn this.
QMS Learning
The 9000 Store, Risk-Based Thinking Training
ChatGPT
What you pay
$195 once
$99, 30 days of access
Free or a monthly plan
Lesson access
For life
30 days ($59 per 30-day extension)
Not a course
Practice on a full evidence packet
Yes: letters, NCRs, interviews, data
Not listed on its product page
Only what you paste in
Scored by a person
Unseen final case study, 5 business days
Not listed on its product page
No
Graded final exam
30 questions, 3 versions, 80% to pass
Tests, with scores tracked
No
Catches invented facts
Taught and practiced in every lab
Not listed on its product page
Can invent them
ChatGPT will write you a SWOT. It won't grade you, and it won't vouch for you.
The 9000 Store figures from its Risk-Based Thinking Training page (4 hours, PDF study guide, test scores tracked, certificate of completion), checked October 18, 2026.
Try it before you pay
Try it first. Change your mind after.
Lesson 1 is free
The real first lesson.
The exercises and Coach Q, on the customer letter the register missed. Judge it yourself.
Start lesson 1 free3 days to change your mind
Request a refund within 3 days.
For an individual Academy purchase, under the Academy refund policy. A refund ends access and invalidates any certificate for the course.
Send it to your manager
A request you can edit.
Nothing here is saved or sent.
Straight answers
What to know before you commit.
Does ISO 9001 require a SWOT analysis?
No. It requires you to determine your internal and external issues and keep monitoring and reviewing them. SWOT and PESTLE are tools many teams use for that, and the course shows how to use them well.
Is a risk register or a scoring scale required?
No. ISO 9001:2026's Annex A says no formal or documented risk management method is required. You do have to address risks and opportunities and plan proportionate actions. The course practises a 3 x 3 site rule because many teams use one, and teaches you to apply whatever rule your site sets.
How is this different from the ISO 9001:2026 Transition course?
The transition course walks through every change in the 2026 edition. This course goes deep on the clauses that most often go stale: context, interested parties, risks, opportunities, effectiveness and quality culture, and has you build the six records yourself.
Does it cover the climate change requirement?
Yes. Module 1 covers the determination in 4.1 and Module 2 covers climate-related requirements from interested parties in 4.2. It doesn't teach carbon accounting or ISO 14001.
Can I use AI for this work?
Yes, as a drafting aid on your own evidence. Every lab includes an AI draft with invented facts to catch, and Module 6 ends with rules you can give your team.
Do I need my company's data?
No. Every record in the course is fictional. At work, use only information your company allows.
Can Coach Q write my final case study?
No. During the final case study and the exam, Coach Q gives navigation help only.
How do I earn the certificate?
Finish the six labs and the coached reflections, score at least 19 of 24 on the final case study and 10 of 12 on the decisions with no unresolved critical error, and pass the 30-question exam at 24 of 30.
Is the certificate an accredited qualification?
No. It records assessed course completion from QMS Learning, with a code anyone can verify. It doesn't make you an approver of risks or decisions at your organization.
How long does it take?
About 6 hours of lessons, self-paced, plus about 3 hours for the final case study, decisions and exam. That's a planning estimate, not a measured time.
How long do I keep access?
Lessons for life with a one-time purchase. Coach Q comes with the course, with no subscription and no renewal fee.
What if it isn't for me?
Try lesson 1 free first. For an individual Academy purchase you can request a refund within 3 days; a refund ends access and invalidates any certificate for the course.
Training a team?
Choose 1 to 50 named learners at checkout. Five or more seats get 10% off every seat. For more than 50, or a PO, email will@qmslearning.com.
Ready when you are
See it. Rate it. Act on it. Prove it.
- ✓The six-module course and practical labs$350
- ✓A final case study scored by a person$250
- ✓Six registers and plans you keep$30
- ✓Coach Q in every lessonIncluded
- ✓Final exam and a certificate anyone can verifyIncluded
- ✓Course hub: study plan, Focus 25, journal, Apply at work logIncluded
$195
Priced elsewhere $630 · per person, one time · lessons for life
About 6 hours of lessons. Coach Q included. A final case study a person scores, and a final exam.
Enroll for $195