Overview

ISO 9000 is a quality system standard which has been adopted throughout the world. Started by the EEU, it became popular in the US in part because the EEU made ISO 9000 compliance a requirement for doing business with the European economic community.

The standard was first published in 1987 and is based on the Brittish standard BS 5750, but its linneage goes back even further to the US Department of Defense's MIL-Q-9858.

As quality system standards go, and there are many, it does not satisfy all the needs of all industries. It has been written to be general in nature so that it can be applied to almost any industry. Having said that, there are some industries for which ISO 9000 compliance is not sufficient. For example the nuclear industry has it's own standards (10CFR50 Appendix B, being the most common, developed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission).

Some industries start with ISO 9000 as a base and enhance it to meet special needs of that industry. An example is the aerospace industry. It's standard AS 9100 is similar to ISO 9000, but has additional requirements important to the industry.

Today ISO 9000 is the most ubiquitious quality system standard in the world. It has been adopted by most countries and industries. For the company looking to develop a consistent approach to quality ISO 9000 is a good start. While implementation can seem daunting to the uninitiated, with the guidance of a knowledgable consultant implementation should not be difficult for a well run company