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What Does ISO Mean?

Categories
  • Implement ISO Quality
Tags
  • compliance
  • definition
  • ISO
  • ISO 9001
  • ISO 9001 Certification
  • ISO compliant
  • QMS
  • quality system
  • standards
ISO Meaning

What does ISO stand for? What does it even mean? It appears that ISO means different things to different people. Learn the meaning of ISO and what does ISO mean?

What Does ISO Mean?ISO Organization

Many people think ISO stands for something, that it’s an acronym for the developer and publisher of International Standards — the International Standards Organization. But that ISO organization is actually called International Organization for Standardization or IOS.

Since the IOS is an international organization, it would have a different acronym in different languages. Hence, the ‘ISO’ in English versus the ‘IOS’ in Swiss or the ‘OIN’ in French (Organisation internationale de normalisation).

The ISO standards are not named after an acronym. The ISO definition comes from the Greek word ‘isos’ for equal. All ISO standards use the name ISO to mean ‘isos’ and not to mean an acronym I.S.O. So now, no matter what country or language that ISO is used in, the ISO standards are always pronounced the same. It is not an I.S.O. standard as many people think, it is an ISO standard — ISO is one word, with no pauses or periods.

What Is ISO?

ISO Meaning

ISO 400 Film Speed

To answer “what is ISO” you may remember the term ISO being used on canisters of film to denote the film speed (i.e. ISO 400 meant the amount of light needed for exposure for the chemical emulsion process to take place).  Higher ISO numbers mean a greater sensitivity to light.

ISO (International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards bodies, at present comprising 140+ members, one in each country. The object of ISO is to promote the development of standardization and related activities in the world with a view to facilitating international exchange of goods and services, and to developing cooperation in the spheres of intellectual, scientific, technological and economic activity. The results of ISO technical work are published as International Standards.

The ISO film speed standard is one such standard (out of over 20,000+ standards) used to promote worldwide trade. Today film is mostly a digital process, but the nomenclature is still used on digital cameras to represent the digital sensors response to light (sensitivity) or digital film speed.

What Is ISO 9000?

The ISO 9000 family of standards represents an international consensus on best quality management system practices with the aim of ensuring that the organization can continuously deliver products or services that meet the client’s quality requirements. These best practices have been distilled into a set of standardized requirements for a quality management system (ISO 9001), regardless of what your organization does, its size, or whether it’s in the private, or public sector.

Why Implement ISO 9001?ISO Quality

To keep customers satisfied your product (or service) needs to meet their requirements. ISO 9001 provides an internationally tried and tested framework for taking a systematic approach to managing your business processes (your organization’s activities) so that they consistently turn out products conforming to customer expectations. Thus resulting in consistently happy customers!

What’s more, many industries from all over the world now require it from their subcontractors including the automotive (IATF 16949), Aviation (AS9100) and government/military contracts. The bottom line is that more and more, customer are demanding a commitment to and proof of quality.

ISO 9001 Procedures

Easily Download and Edit ISO 9001 2015 Procedures in MS Word Templates

How Does the ISO 9001 Standard Work?

The requirements for a quality system have been standardized even though most of us think our business is unique. So how does ISO 9001 allow for the diversity of an enterprise versus a multinational manufacturing company with service components, or a public utility, or a government administration?

ISO 9001 Requirements

The answer is ISO 9001 lays down the requirements your quality system must meet, but does not dictate how you should meet them within your organization – which leaves great scope and flexibility to implement the ISO 9001 Standard in different business sectors and business cultures…as well as different national cultures.

ISO 9001 Standards Family

The ISO 9000 standards family consists of standards that give organizations guidance and requirements on what constitutes an effective quality management system. ISO 9004-1 (and the other parts of ISO 9004) are the standards giving guidelines on the elements of quality management and a quality system.

The family also includes the latest ISO 9001:2015 criteria, which can be used to audit the organization to provide clients assurance that the system is operating effectively. Lastly, the family includes ISO 9000, which is a standard on terminology, that can be described as “supporting tools”, and others like ISO 19011 to provide guidance on specific aspects, such as auditing quality systems.

How to Become ISO 9001 Conforming

We have many articles on how to become ISO 9001 compliant. Check out our ISO category for more articles and information on ISO requirements, compliance, registration, or how to get started.

What Are Some Common ISO Examples?

Take a look at the graphical symbols on the dashboard of your car or at the pictorial symbol on a package marked with handling instructions such as “This way up”. Various ISO technical committees have developed or adopted hundreds of carefully researched signs and symbols that convey clear-cut messages which cross language boundaries.

ISBN is Based on ISOISO 9001 Quality

On the inside cover of nearly every book, there is something called an ISBN number. ISBN stands for International Standard Book Number. Publishers and booksellers are very familiar with ISBN numbers, since they are the keyway that books are ordered and bought.

Try buying a book on the Internet, and you will soon learn the value of the ISBN number there is a unique number for the book you want! And, it is based on an ISO standard.

Almost everything you need and use for work and home comes from somewhere else. Whether departure and destination points are as close as A to B, or as far apart as Antwerp and Bangkok, freight containers ensure a smooth passage for your goods and materials. From truck to train, from boat to plane, there are more than five million freight containers transiting across the globe. This has become possible principally through international standardization.

ISO Standard for Screw Threads

Yet another example: the chair that you’re probably sitting on, or the desk your computer is perched on, are held together by bolts and screws. Humble bolts and screws also hold together our children’s bicycles and also the aircraft we trust our lives to during business trips or holiday travel.

The diversity of screw threads used to represent big problems for industry, particularly in maintenance, as lost or damaged nuts and bolts could not easily be replaced. A global solution is supplied in the ISO standards for metric screw threads.

A last example: the credit card you may have used to buy your computer can be used worldwide because all its basic features are based on ISO standards. We are so familiar with many objects, like credit or telephone cards, that we tend to assume they just “fell out of the sky”. In fact, the ease with which we can use them can be traced back to an ISO standard.

ISO 9001 Quality StandardISO Standards Quality

ISO 9001 was originally designed (1987) to set management system requirements for business quality, specifically quality in manufacturing. It was revised in 1994, 2000, 2008, and 2015 and now is used for manufacturing and services. It is in use world-wide by over 1 million organizations in order to provide consistent quality products that are meeting customer requirements.
ISO 9001:2015 is built around seven Quality Management System (QMS) principles to increase the focus on management commitment, customer satisfaction and continuous improvement. (click to download free ISO 9001 2015 procedures).  The next version was released September 2015 and is called ISO 9001:2015, and is required after September 2018.

what does ISO meanWhy Implement ISO 9001 Quality?

If your reason for implementing the standard is improvement, then it can truly help your organization become better. Here are four great reasons to implement ISO 9001 in your business. Download our quality assurance policy statement and procedures in your business:

Effectiveness

Ensure your organization continually improves and succeeds. ISO is all about effectiveness.

Marketing

Improve your consistency, customer satisfaction, and competitive advantage. ISO is key to marketing.

Cost

Reduce your Cost Of Quality (COQ). Implementing ISO effectively, will drive down costs.

Morale

Demonstrate your quality & commitment to customers, employees, and suppliers will improve morale.

ISO Meaning

ISO means different things to different people. It comes from the Greek word ‘isos’ for equal, but if you want to think of the standards organization as ISO, well at least it works that way in the United States where we say International Standards Organization. Just remember its different in other countries…

Download Free ISO 9001 2015 procedures to see how easy it is to edit MS Word Templates to build your own policy and procedure quality management system.

ISO 9000 Links

Below is a list of organizations that provide additional information on ISO 9000 and ISO 14000.

Organizations

  • Institute of Certified Hazardous Materials Managers (ACHMM)
  • Air & Waste Management Association
  • American National Standards Institute (ANSI)
  • American Society for Quality (ASQ)
  • Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG)
  • The Energy and Environmental Division of ASQ
  • International Accreditation Forum (IAF)
  • International Organization for Standardization (ISO)
  • Quality Excellence for Suppliers of Telecommunications (QuEST) Leadership Forum

Information Sources/Publications

  • International Forum for Management Systems (The Informed Outlook)
  • Quality Digest magazine
  • Quality magazine

More Articles from Bizmanualz...

  • What Is ISO?What Is ISO?
  • How to Implement ISO 9001 Clause 5 & 7 Leadership and ResourcesHow to Implement ISO 9001 Clause 5 & 7 Leadership and Resources
  • How to Meet Quality Standards with ISO 9001How to Meet Quality Standards with ISO 9001
  • Why Implement the ISO 9001 Standard?Why Implement the ISO 9001 Standard?
  • How Do You Create ISO 9001 Procedures for a QMS?How Do You Create ISO 9001 Procedures for a QMS?
  • Final Step Before ISO 9001 Certification is Data ManagementFinal Step Before ISO 9001 Certification is Data Management
  • How Do You Create ISO 9001 Quality Management Systems?How Do You Create ISO 9001 Quality Management Systems?
  • ISO 9001 Frequently Asked Questions AnsweredISO 9001 Frequently Asked Questions Answered
  • Do Lean and ISO 9001 Go Together?Do Lean and ISO 9001 Go Together?
  • What Is an ISO 9001 Gap Analysis?What Is an ISO 9001 Gap Analysis?
Share

7 Comments

  1. Marijan Toncic says:
    October 2, 2017 at 6:31 pm

    To me it seems that there is to much administration and to many working staff miss the real work. Paper is clear meanwhile the working environment is many time unsafe. Take for instance a close look to the sinking of El Faro container ship……. paper work were excellent.

    Reply
    • Chris Anderson says:
      October 9, 2017 at 10:40 am

      ISO is a framework. You can add a lot of paperwork or not. There are various lean methods that can be used to make the workplace more visual.

      Reply
    • Damien says:
      February 24, 2019 at 1:40 pm

      Well said, that is very true!!

      Reply
  2. hailu negu says:
    February 26, 2021 at 1:26 am

    is there revised iso 2020 approved

    Reply
    • Chris Anderson says:
      February 28, 2021 at 8:59 am

      Nothing is final yet. See ISO Update Supplement to ISOfocus for more information about the current status.

      Reply
  3. Shiferaw says:
    February 26, 2021 at 8:06 pm

    I thank you very much. You made it easier everything in a plain language.

    Reply
  4. Jayram Ittoo says:
    March 1, 2021 at 7:29 pm

    Thank You very much.
    Well explained and made simple

    Reply

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