What is ISO 9000?

ISO 9000 is a set of standards and criteria regarding quality control for companies specializing in Manufacturing and services. Its purpose is to provide a means for a company to demonstrate a commitment to Quality to their customers. The International Standards Organization represents 140 countries around the globe. The Organization was founded in 1947 as a non-governmental organization to promote the development of standards in quality. The ISO 9000 standards were introduced in 1987. The presence of ISO can be seen in our lives every day. The consistency in dimensions of products such as cassette tapes and credit cards are the result of ISO standards. These standards are necessary to insure quality products that serve their purpose. Most ISO standards are measurement oriented and consist of dimensions. The ISO 9000 differs from these standards by being more subjective. The ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 are referred to as generic management systems standards. They do not standardize the final product, but the process to make the product. ISO 9000 lays down what requirements your quality system must meet, but does not dictate how they should be met in your organization (International, 2001). This allows the company great flexibility in the process of meeting these requirements. A number of different quality methods can be used and still meet the criteria. While ISO 9000 gives a company direction for implementing a quality program, being certified does not guarantee quality. The International Standards Organization simply defines the standards to be used for certification. The organization itself does not audit companies. Because of this, a company cannot be termed ISO 9000 certified. ISO would like to put an end to the use of this terminology, as it can be misleading, causing customers to think that ISO is sponsoring the certification process. ISO also will not allow its logo to be used to advertise certification. Private sectors take on the responsibility for auditing companies to check for compliance to ISO 9000. Companies can be certified with a certain private company that relies on its own credentials. This private company will check to see if the management processes relevant to quality are in line with the corresponding ISO 9000 standards.