ISO 9000 Quality System Standards

ISO  is  the  universal  hallmark  of  quality  which  consists  of  a  family  of standards for quality management systems such as ISO 9000. ISO 9000 is managed by ISO, the International Organisation for Standardisation and is administered  by  accreditation  and  certification  bodies.  The  rules  are updated, as the requirements changes over time. The following are the list of requirements in ISO 9001:2008 (which are latest version of the standards in the ISO 9000 family):

• A set of procedures that cover all key processes in the business.
• Monitoring processes to ensure they are effective.
• Keep adequate records.
• Check output for defects, with appropriate and corrective action where necessary.
• Regular review individual processes and the quality system itself for effectiveness and
• Facilitate continual improvement.

Any  company or  organisation that  has been autonomously  audited  and certified to be in conformance with ISO 9000 may openly state that it is "ISO 9000 certified".

The process of ISO 9000-certification begins with an understanding of the quality management system and preparing the organisation for an audit by an assessor. The assessor interviews all employees of the organisation to ensure that they understand their role in accordance with the ISO 9000 standard. The assessor examines the organisation's documents to ensure quality compliance. The company is awarded the certification for a specific time period based on the findings of report prepared by the assessor. Today, ISO  is  one  of  the  world?s most  established  quality  systems  available. According to the survey made by ISO in 2008, there are now 176 countries that have received the ISO 9000 certifications At least 9.8 million organisations have been the recipient of the certification. This certification has participants across not just the management and distribution firms but even traditional industries like agriculture and construction.

ISO 9000 helps organisations to stay ahead of their competition. The quality system procedures mandated by the ISO standards help the organisation to build products and services with a strong process oriented approach, which takes care of quality in all the stages. Since continuous improvement is an important  requirement  in  ISO,  the  products  developed  are  superior in quality and performance. ISO 9000 eliminates redundant and unnecessary work practices. They help to identify problem areas and address them quickly. ISO9000 certification is a mark that helps potential customers to identify product, which has consistent quality and is manufactured under controlled  conditions.  ISO  certified  organisations  can  identify  customer needs more accurately.

International Organisation of Standards would normally be abbreviated as ISO, and there are at least two theories as to why it is called or known as ISO.

Theory 1: First theory that ISO refers to the two equal sides of an Isosceles triangle and International Organisation of Standards is uniform and equal throughout the international community.

Theory 2: This theory of ISO refers to a story in which it has the French insisted on the French version of International Organisation of Standards which is pronounced in the order of "International Standards Organisation", leading to the abbreviation of ISO.