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ISO Background


Customer satisfaction, profitability and market leadership are driven in large part by delivering quality products and services to customers. Today, more than ever, there is a worldwide trend towards increasingly stringent customer expectations regarding quality. Accompanying this trend has been a growing realization that continuous quality improvements are often necessary to achieving and sustaining excellent economic performance.

One roadblock to providing quality products and services was the definition of what "quality" meant to different customers. Different countries, industries and governments all had varying quality systems that suppliers had to adopt in order to deliver goods around the world. A single worldwide standard was needed to simplify international standards.

The result:

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO)

This gave rise to ISO - the International Organization for Standardization. Located in Switzerland, ISO is the specialized international agency for standardization and the source of ISO 9000. Established in 1947, it is comprised of the national standards bodies of 140 countries, working together to produce more than 13,000 International Standards for business, government and society.

ISO is made up of approximately 180 Technical Committees. Each Technical Committee is responsible for one of many areas of specialization. According to ISO,

"The object of ISO is to promote the development of standardization and related world activities with a view to facilitating international exchange of goods and services and to developing cooperation in the sphere of intellectual, scientific, technological and economic activity."

The results of ISO technical work are published as international standards. Many people think that ISO stands for International Standards Organization. They are close, but actually mistaken. The official name of the organization is French and translates to The International Organization for Standardization. ISO is Greek for equal. Some examples of where ISO is used in language today include weather reports - isobars areas of equal pressure or isotherms areas of equal temperature, and in geometry isosceles triangles have equal sides.

The International Organization for Standardization is an organization made up of member nations that develop standards for everything from electronics to management systems. Representatives from the member nations develop specifications and standards. The acceptance of a new or revised standard is by vote, each country getting one vote. The process itself is much more complex involving committees and subcommittees to develop and write the standards, but to accept a proposed standard, each nation has one vote and no nation outvotes another.

On the various committees, the U.S. is represented by professionals from industry, education, consulting and Registrar organizations.


The American National Standards Institute (ANSI)

ANSI is a private, non-profit organization that administers and coordinates the U.S. voluntary standardization and conformity assessment system.

ANSI is the official U.S. representative to the International Accreditation Forum (IAF), the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and, via the U.S. National Committee, the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). ANSI is also the U.S. member of the Pacific Area Standards Congress (PASC) and the Pan American Standards Commission (COPANT).

NOTE: The ISO 9000 or ISO 14000 series standards are available (for a small charge) from ANSI either in print or for electronic download from their website. The ANSI online store contains the complete collection of ISO published standards. The collection is organized into 43 new categories, based on the International Classification for Standards (ICS) developed by ISO.

Contact ANSI at:

The American National Standards Institute (ANSI)
1819 L Street
NW, Washington, DC 20036
Internet: www.ansi.org
Phone: 202-293-8020
Fax: 202-293-9287


The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

NIST is a non-regulatory federal agency within the U.S. Commerce Department's Technology Administration. NIST's mission is to develop and promote measurement, standards and technology to enhance productivity, facilitate trade and improve the quality of life.

NIST technology, measurements, and standards help U.S. industry invent and manufacture superior products reliably, ensure a fair marketplace for consumers and businesses, and promote acceptance of U.S. products in foreign markets. By providing these elements of technological progress over the past century, NIST has helped to lay the foundations for the innovation, economic growth, and quality of life that has made the United States the world's most prosperous nation.

NIST Quality Program:
The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award

 

The introductory section of Bizmanualz ISO 9001 QMS
also contains information on the following:

 

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