What Is ISO 9000?

What Is ISO 9000? 

ISO 9000 is a generic term that refers to the family of documents controlled by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in Geneva, Switzerland. The ISO 9000 standard is among ISO's most widely known standards ever. Nearly 900,000 organizations in 170 countries have certified to the standard. It has become an international reference for quality management system requirements in business-to-business dealings.

The ISO 9000 family is focused "quality management". This means what the organization does to fulfill:

	the customers' quality requirements
	applicable regulatory requirements, while aiming to...
	enhance customer satisfaction, and
	achieve continual improvement of its performance in pursuit of these objectives

There are three primary documents in the ISO 9000 family:

1. ISO 9000 - Fundamentals of a quality management system and vocabulary 
2. ISO 9001 - Requirements for quality management systems, and 
3. ISO 9004 - Performance improvement guidelines 

Lets take a look at ISO 9000 itself. ISO 9001 and 9004 are reviewed on other pages (see links below).

The ISO 9000 document doesn't contain any requirements. It is just a description of what a fundamental quality management system should be, as well as including the vocabulary used in the standard.

Since it is an international standard, and words can have different meanings in different languages, it is necessary to define the words to have a common meaning.

The guideline contains following sections:

• Vocabulary
  
• Fundamentals of quality management systems
  
• Rationale for quality management systems
  
• Requirements for quality management systems and requirements for products
  
• Quality management system approach
  
• The process approach
  
• Quality policy and quality objectives
  
• Role of top management within the quality management system
  
• Documentation
  
• Evaluating quality management systems
  
• Continual improvement
  
• Role of statistical techniques
  
• Quality management systems and other management system focuses
  
• Relationship between quality management systems and excellence models 

The most recent edition of ISO 9000 is dated 2005 and is version (E). This is a crucial document for companies to read and understand. It is especially important for top management because it clearly sets forth the focus and intent of the ISO 9000 requirements.

The 2008 revision was released in November. The changes in the 2008 revision are editorial for clarification of intent and application.

If an organization is going to understand the principles of quality management systems this is a invaluable document to read.

Additional Information On These Topics:

What are Quality Management Systems?

What is ISO 9000?

What is ISO 9001?

What is ISO 9004?

What is ISO 19011?

ISO 9000-2008 Changes

Online ISO 9000/9001 Overview Course

Auditor Training: Online

Auditor Training Courseware

Additional Information Resources