ISO 9000:1994 Seriew Overview
The original set of quality assurance standards, commonly known as ISO 9000, was published in 1987 by ISO. The standard was initially based on British Standard 5750 and modified as appropriate to address issues of all member nations. The ISO 9000 series of standards are translated into many different languages and must be equal in all languages. This has resulted in the wording of the standard to be somewhat awkward at times.
The purpose of the ISO 9000 standard initially (1987 & 1994 revisions) was to provide a company with the minimum requirements for a quality system to be effective in providing customers with products of a consistent quality that met their requirements. Certification or Registration (the terms are used interchangeably) to ISO 9001, 9002 or 9003 provided customer organizations with confidence that a supplier had implemented an appropriate quality system, therefore providing a more reliable quality of product. If problems with the quality of products should arise, the customer complaint and corrective action system would ensure correction of the problem and prevention of recurrence.
The standards were updated in 1994 (ISO9000:1994) and again in December 2000 (ISO 9000:2000). All companies certified to one of the earlier ISO9000:1994 standards are required to re-certify under the latest ISO9000:2000 standard by December 2003 in order to maintain certification. This section is provided for reference only.
The old ISO 9000:1994 Series was a set of five individual, but related, international standards on quality management and quality assurance. They are generic in nature and not specific to any particular product or service. These standards were developed with the goal of effectively documenting the quality system elements to be implemented in order to maintain an efficient quality system in a company. However, the standards themselves do not specify the means to be used for implementing the quality system elements.
ISO 9000 is the first standard in the series and is entitled "Quality Management and Quality Assurance Standards - Guidelines for Selection and Use." This section presents an overview of the whole set and guidelines for use of the rest of the series.
ISO 9001, 9002 and 9003 are quality system models for external quality assurance. These three models are actually successive subsets of each other.
ISO 9001 is the most comprehensive, which covers design, manufacturing, installation and service.
ISO 9002 covers production, installation and servicing.
ISO 9003 covers only final product inspection and testing.
Under ISO9000:1994, The company would have chosen one of the above "auditable" standards to measure its quality system against. It would serve as the guideline for an independent third party audit of company operations against the requirements of the appropriate standard.
ISO 9004 is the fifth in the series. It provides guidelines for internal use by a producer developing its own quality system to meet business needs and take advantage of opportunities.
QS-9000 and other Sector Requirements
Several industries have adopted their own requirements based on the ISO standards. The automotive industry created QS-9000, which incorporates ISO 9001 along with additional auto industry specific requirements. The aerospace industry created AS9000 and the telephone industry has created TL 9000.
Next: How does one Transition from ISO 9000:1994 to ISO 9000:2000?
