Faculdade

What it means to be ISO 9000 Certified.

By Anthony Nurre, Yusuf Gunaman
Dennis De-Almeida

September 22, 2000

In today's global economy the barriers of trade have been knocked down. Companies have increased their level of performance in order to survive today’s aggressive environment. In order to stay competitive, companies must apply effective and efficient plans. The most accepted plan today is the ISO 9000. It is a set of standards that help companies achieve cost effective and quality assurance methods. This paper will explain what ISO 9000 is and what it means to a company to be ISO 9000 certified.
What is ISO?
ISO is an International Organization for Standards that was formed by technical committees.
They provide user-friendly guidelines for a wide range of organizations. Examples of these organizations include manufacturing, processing, servicing, printing, forestry, and electronics
(www.connect.ab.ca/~praxiom/into.htm). ISO was established in 1947, in Switzerland, with the purpose of developing intellectual, scientific, technological, and economic corporation between member countries (Bureau of Business Practice). Later in 1979 the ISO Technical Committee
(ISO/TC 176) was formed to make a set of guidelines that would bring together and standardize world industries. ISO has affiliates in more than 90 countries. It is interesting to note that ISO comes from the Greek word “isos” which means “same as.” The words “same as” can be implied to mean the consumer gets what the consumer expects. In our quality assurance class we have learned that if the consumer gets what they expect, this is consider quality. Therefore, the root word ISO stands for quality.
What is ISO 9000?
ISO 9000 is a set of five International Standards for Quality Assurance.
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ISO 9000 contains guidelines for the other four standards.

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ISO 9001 is intended for suppliers who do a lot of design or customization.

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ISO 9002 involves standards for both