ISO-9000

ORIGIN
In 1987 management of quality gained much importance in the worldwide when the international standards organizations brought out a set of standards and termed as iso-9000. Many countries including India have accepted this iso9000 standards. Iso-9000 was originally issued as a series of six internationally agreed upon standards to guide the companys quality management named as iso-9000, 9001, 9002, 9003, 9004, and 8402. Each standard contains specific guidelines these series covers different activities such as design manufacturing auditing calibration of equipment etc..

Iso-9000 is not an mandatory system nor an government regulation however it is important customer regulation. It provides assurance to a wide variety of customers about an organizations quality assurance. organizations quality assurance methods are reviewed once in every three years by iso-9000. It wont audit the finished product instead the procedure and methods used in delivering that product is audited. Iso-9000 is not an TQM but it is a sub component of TQM.

OBJECTIVES OF ISO-9000
Achieve, maintain and seek to continuously improvement in the quality of product and service. To improve the quality of operation to continuously meet customers and stakeholders needs. Provide confidence to internal management in the improvement of quality. To provide confidence to customers that quality requirements are being achieved in the delivered product.

ELMENTS OF ISO-9000
ISO-9000 standard focuses on 20key elements they are -: 1. Management responsibility 2. Quality system 3. Design control 4. Purchasing 5. Document and data control 6. Contract review 7. Control of supplied products 8. Product identification 9. Process control 10. Inspection and testing

11. Control inspection, measuring and test equipments. 12. Inspection and test status 13. Control of non-conforming products 14. Corrective and preventive action 15. Handling, storage, packaging, preservation and delivery. 16. Control of quality records. 17. Internal quality audit 18. Training 19. Servicing 20. Statistical techniques

Basic requirements for iso-9000 certification

Documentation Performance Verification filling

BENEFITS OF ISO-9000 CERTIFICATION

International competition. Customer demands. Market realities and perceptions. Contractors selections. Supplier selection.

CRITICISM OF ISO-9000 CERTIFICATION

Costly to get certified. No guarantee that a company having this certification will provide a quality product and service.