ISO 9000 is a family of standards for quality management systems.

ISO 9000 is maintained by ISO, the

International Organization for Standardization and is administered by accreditation and certification
bodies. The rules are updated, as the requirements motivate changes over time.
Some of the requirements in ISO 9001:2008 (which is one of the standards in the ISO 9000 family)
include
• a set of procedures that cover all key processes in the business;
• monitoring processes to ensure they are effective;
• keeping adequate records;
• checking output for defects, with appropriate and corrective action where necessary;
• regularly reviewing individual processes and the quality system itself for effectiveness; and
• facilitating continual improvement
A company or organization that has been independently audited and certified to be in conformance with
ISO 9001 may publicly state that it is "ISO 9001 certified" or "ISO 9001 registered". Certification to an
ISO 9001 standard does not guarantee any quality of end products and services; rather, it certifies that
formalized business processes are being applied.
Marketing departments take advantage of public confusion and ignorance about ISO 9000. Goods and
services outstanding proclaim their ISO 9000 STATUS. Most consumers suppose that ISO 9000 is the
same as ISO 9001.
Although the standards originated in manufacturing, they are now employed across several types of
organizations. A "product", in ISO vocabulary, can mean a physical object, services, or software.

there has been so much written about the benefits of having ISO-9000 registration, there isn't enough space on
this website to repeat it all. We will attempt to list some of the basic benefits here.

1. ISO-9000 forces an organization to focus on "how they do business". Each procedure and work instruction
must be documented and thus, becomes the springboard for Continuous Improvement.

2. Documented processes are the basis for repetition and help eliminate variation within the process. As
variation is eliminated, efficiency improves. As efficiency improves, the cost of quality is reduced.

3. With the development of solid Corrective and Preventative measures, permanent, company-wide solutions to
quality problems are found.

4. Employee morale is increased as they are asked to take control of their processes and document their work
processes.

5. Customer satisfaction, and more importantly customer loyalty, grows. As a company transforms from a
reactive organization to a pro-active, preventative organization, it becomes a company people want to do
business with.

6. Reduced problems resulting from increased employee participation, involvement, awareness and systematic
employee training.

7. Better products and services result from Continuous Improvement processes.

8. Fosters the understanding that quality, in and of itself, is not limited to a quality department but is everyone's
responsibility.

9. Improved profit levels result as productivity improves and rework costs are reduced.

10. Improved communications both internally and externally which improves quality, efficiency, on time delivery
and customer/supplier relations.

The ISO 9000 series provides the company with a quality system that:
1. Standardizes, organizes and controls operations
2. Provides for consistent dissemination of information
3. Improves various aspects of the business based use of statistical data and
analysis
4. Acceptance of the system as a standard for ensuring quality in a global
market
5. Enhances customer responsiveness to products and service
6. Encourages improvement
Standardization
The ISO 9000 series standards are organized according to functions, such as; document and data
control, and contract review therefore they are set forth in a logical format. Organized in outline form
they provide a template for each function that effects the quality of the product or service in the
company. Guidelines provided by the standards establish a consistent approach to policy
documentation. Controls are set forth in the standards in the areas of document control, contract review
and control of non-conforming product.
Consistent dissemination of information
Three areas of the standards, in particular, provide for consistent dissemination of information. Control
of quality records insures that pertinent records are maintained regarding quality records. Design
control eliminates ad-hoc engineering changes that are not communicated with all parties involved in
the process. Document and data control standards require a system of document revision, document
distribution, removal of obsolete documents, and document approval. Specially the standards require,
the pertinent issues of appropriate documents are available at all locations where operations
essential to the effective functioning of the quality systems are performed".
Improvement using statistics
The ISO 9000 series standards require the company to identify the need for statistical techniques and to
implement and control such techniques. The standards specifically point to process capability and
product characteristics. The standards allow the company the flexibility to use those statistical
techniques that would be appropriate for their industry. Additionally, the standards refer to the use of
both corrective and preventative action, and effective internal auditing. These techniques and systems
improve business processes by using data- based management rather than instinct and hunches.
Global acceptance
The ISO 9000 series is the standard of quality accepted by the European community. The acceptance of
these standards is quickly spreading throughout the Americas, and Asia. It simply makes sense to adopt
one quality standard that can be used by corporations throughout the global community as a trademark
for verifying the quality of services and product provided by a given company. It is much less costly
than complying with multitudes of quality standards imposed by various corporations and /or countries
to conduct business with them. Finally, for those companies which are subject to a myriad of US
government quality standards, we can look forward to a future of one standard applied across US
agencies.
Enhances customer responsiveness
American companies now face world-wide competition in global markets. There is a continual need to
prove the quality/superiority of the goods and services provided by American firms, in order to
compete. Registration provides customers with the assurance that established quality standards have
been met. Further many US and European customers are mandating ISO registration as a requirement
to conduct business. ISO registration assists a company in developing and maintaining a competitive
advantage over non-registered competitors.
Encourages continual improvement
Awards and training programs are all well and good to help meet a company's quality objectives, but
they are a one time non-reoccurring event. They can build up momentum and then simply die out. True
success in the implementation of a quality system can be measured by the fact that it is functional and
continual.. The ISO series standards ensure this, by providing not only for the initial registration
auditing, but on-going surveillance audits. This provides an additional benefit to vendors and
customers of the company in that they are assured that the quality system in functional and periodically
monitored by external independent auditors. This usually eliminates the need for additional customer
surveillance audits.