Do Quality Standards Matter? (Demo)

ISO 9000 is designed to help stakeholders meet their customers need ISO 9000 family is a system of quality management system that is offered by ISO. It deals with fundamentals of quality of management systems. ISO name come from the Greek word isos, which means equal. More than one million organizations are certified with ISO 9001 worldwide making ISO 9001among the most used tools of management in the world. DO STANDARDS MATTER?

We tend to take for granted that products t and services meet our standards, however when they don’t and are of poor quality then we notice. If systems, products and machinery meet good standards it’s because they have a set standard.  Standards matter because they ensure quality of services and products, safety, reliability, environmental friendliness, and interchangeability at economical costs.

Standards facilitate fair trade between countries, they make supply, manufacturing and development of services and products cleaner, efficient and safer, spread innovations, help in safeguarding consumers from substandard services and products and provide solutions to problems.

Standards benefit businesses because suppliers offer products and services that have meet international specifications. They help technological innovators to develop marketable and manufactured products. Customers are given a wide choice; standards also help them because they benefit from completion therefore getting goods and services at a lower price.

Conformity of services and goods to standards gives consumers assurance that the products are reliable, quality and safe.

They help developing countries know the standards services and goods are supposed to meet and where to invest their resources.

International standards contribute to quality of life for people in general because they ensure that products are of a certain standard.

ISO 14001 has generic requirements for environmental systems while ISO 9001 is for quality management. ISO 9001 is the only one of the ISO 9000 that can be used for conformity assessment purposes. The ISO does not certify organizations itself it has accreditation bodies that have been authorized in different countries for authorization of certification bodies the two bodies charge fees for services rendered.

Organizations wishing to apply are assessed based on their functions, where they are located, services and processes, a list of problems if any is brought to the knowledge of the management, if there is none or they produce a good improvement plan showing how the problems will be dealt with they are issued with an ISO 9001 certificate. ISO certificates are rewarded at intervals e.g. once every two years depending on the certification body.