ISO Contact Information

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International Organization for Standardization (ISO)
1, rue de Varemb?, Case postale 56
CH-1211 Geneva 20, Switzerland 
Telephone + 41 22 749 01 11; Telefax + 41 22 733 34 30;
E-mail central@iso.ch; Web http://www.iso.ch

Links

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As of February 2001, a search of the Internet for information on ISO would produce over 7 million links. In an effort to save you time, we've narrowed the search down to this manageable list: 

A Note from Lars Flink of the Swedish Standards Institute

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Our vision is to be the most effective organisation for Swedish companies, authorities and organisations, where the knowledge of and the gaining of access to standards are concerned, along with the possibility to influence and take part in the work on national, European and global standards. We work hard in order to simplify matters for you, the interested party and to enable you to get the help and service you need.

The old standards bodies retain their addresses and telephone numbers up until June 2001 when at that time the whole organisation will be gathered at St Paulsgatan in Stockholm. The work on standardisation projects, in progress at present, will not be altered at the turn of the year.

Our information in English will be available from March the 1st.

We look forward to working with you in the new organisation.

Lars Flink

Managing Director

An Introduction to ISO 9000 Standards

Background

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The 21st century will bring new challenges and new opportunities to corporations worldwide. New markets will be intensely competitive and demand higher product quality standards from your company. Quality assurance and managing new quality goals will be essential for success. The ISO 9000 Series of Standards is a relatively new business tool.

The basic intent of the ISO 9000 Series of Standards is consistent customer satisfaction through the timely supply of products or services that conform to the requirements and expectations of your customers. Any other benefits your company may derive from your quality assurance efforts are secondary to the goal of consistently satisfying your customers.

If ISO quality assurance leads to satisfying existing customers, then it can also attract new customers.  An investment in a quality management system is also an investment in future sales success.

A successful quality assurance system does require an unequivocal commitment from company management to support the program and its implementation.

ISO: A Short History

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ISO has its roots in post-World War II Europe. The need to rebuild infrastructure, and retool industries, also created the need to develop common standards.

In 1946, the International Organization for Standardization was founded. Its stated purpose was to develop common manufacturing, trade and communications standards. Today, for example, we accept without question that sea and air containers can be handled worldwide. Or that the international telephone system will seamlessly connect any call from anywhere to anywhere. 

Without agreed basic standards, chaos would quickly result. Standards are the ?nuts and bolts? connecting the global community. International trade operates on the tacit assumption that everything fits together. The international standardization that we now enjoy did not occur spontaneously. Standards were generally established outside the arena of geopolitics; consensus did not always come easily but commonsense, in the interests of all nations, seems to have prevailed since the late 1940s.

 ISO takes its name from the Greek word, isos, meaning equal. The English prefix, iso (from the same Greek root), also means equal and is found in such words as isobar (a line on a weather map connecting places having the same or equal  barometric pressure) and isostatic (under equal pressure from every side). For anything to be equal  it must contain uniform or standard characteristics.

ISO is therefore both a (French language) acronym for the International Organization for Standardization and an accurate description of its purpose. Now based in Geneva, Switzerland, ISO is comprised of over 100 member countries. Each country is represented by its appointed member body. This national body is the function that establishes and controls its own country?s national standards. Each nation has a single vote despite the often vast disparities in size, population and level of economic development among member countries. The United States is represented by The American National Standards Institute (ANSI).

Member countries are not under any international legal obligation to adopt or locally enforce ISO standards. However, many countries chose to adopt ISO standards as their own national standards. Some do so only by key industries; others by wider mandates. ISO develops universal standards for all industrial and commercial activities, except in the electrical and electronic engineering industries. These are the responsibility of the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), also based in Geneva. ISO and IEC work closely and cooperate on the development of common standards.

From its early beginnings in 1946, ISO has responded to the awesome task of bringing the world together through common standards. Today, ISO standards are found in almost every industrial and commercial endeavor from heavy manufacturing to world currency exchange rate calculations. Quality assurance standards are only a small but nevertheless an important part of the global ISO commitment to standardization.  

The development of quality assurance standardization was both hampered by, and benefited from, the Cold War. Many early national and international standards arose from quality control demands for military and civilian nuclear industry needs. These standards were either quality system requirements to be used by contractors or specification requirements for purchasers and suppliers. Most were also classified and therefore not available for wider industrial or commercial use.

The ISO 9000 Series of Standards in use today is, in part, a direct descendant of the U.S. Department of Defense MIL-Q9858 quality assurance program adopted in 1959. In 1968, The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, more widely known as NATO, adopted the principles and much of the content of the successful Department of Defense program under a series of standards prefixed AQAP.

The first broad civilian use of quality assurance systems came in 1979 when the British Standards Institute (BSI) issued standards for industrial and commercial use. The development of the European Union was also a major catalyst in the logical growth of international quality assurance standards.

The 1970s also brought rapid global improvements in information and transportation technology. Computers, telecommunications satellites and widebody jets all changed the way the world did business. The need for harmonized product quality requirements and guidelines became increasingly obvious. Differing national quality standards were increasingly seen as serious barriers to global trade. Countries could no longer insist that their standards were superior to other national standards. Trade was becoming more complex and potentially more costly. The solution was to provide product standards and quality system guidelines to companies worldwide as the basis of export/import trade and domestic vendor/customer relationships.  Standards were now essential to facilitate world trade.  

It was not until 1987 that an ISO Technical Committee finally agreed to a common set of quality standards and published the ISO 9000 Series. The term ISO 9000 Family or Series refers to the comprehensive group of standards developed by Technical Committee 176 and published in its entirety as ISO/TC176.  Only ISO 9001, ISO 9002 and ISO 9003 are quality assurance standards. The other ISO/TC176 documents are guideline standards.

ISO standards are always published in English and French, two of the three ISO official languages. The third official language, Russian, is also used extensively. Any standard adopted by a member country must be translated and published in the official language of that country. 

ISO Today

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ISO 9000 is now a vital part of the way the world does business. It is a universal quality ideal that is widely understood and transcends language and cultural barriers.

Many U.S. companies adopted an ISO 9000 standard through the loss of a key customer or on the mistaken assumption that ISO 9000 registration would be a requirement for doing business in Europe or Asia.

Other companies have become convinced that ISO 9000 registration is good for business and a valuable process management system. Registration continues to skyrocket. Tens of thousands of businesses in the U.S. are now registered. Thousands more are in ISO compliance or are introducing ISO 9000 quality assurance systems.

Most ISO certification is in the manufacturing sector but new ISO success stories in construction, service, healthcare, and even the hospitality (hotel) industry, demonstrate the flexibility and usefulness of the ISO 9000 series.

The Big Three automakers (Ford, Chrysler and General Motors) have their own quality system for its suppliers. QS-9000 includes all the elements of ISO 9001 with additional automotive manufacturing standards for use by the thousands of suppliers in the auto and truck manufacturing industries. American-made autos have largely overcome many of the disastrous quality image problems that plagued the auto industry in past decades. Japanese auto manufacturers now use the American developed QS-9000 standards for many of their own global operations.

ISO 9000 works. Companies voluntarily use ISO 9000 quality assurance. There are no Federal or State laws requiring ISO compliance. (The U.S. Federal government encourages its departments to adopt voluntary consensus standards and a 1995 law requires those departments that do not do so to provide a written explanation.) 

They key to its global success is its flexibility. One size does not fit all. ISO 9001 is essentially a twenty step program for changing and maintaining desired company behavior. Each company has the ability to build on the key principles contained in their ISO 9000 standard with procedures that meet their specialized needs.

The principles of ISO quality assurance work equally as well in Indiana as they do in India.

The Future of ISO 9000

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ISO 9000 is here to stay. It has proven its worth worldwide and is accepted as not just ?another management fad.?  It is a gateway to new markets and customers. It will continue to grow as a vital global trading requirement.

It will also continue to strengthen the domestic production capabilities of successful companies. As the world grows smaller through new technology, and as more non-stop flights connect major foreign cities, quality assurance will become a basic tenet for business success. Companies that cannot convince their customers of ISO quality assurance standards will inevitably lose business to their new competitors. As tariff barriers continue to fall, those new competitors may not be across town but on a different continent and may speak a different language. Tomorrow?s customers may rate the ability to delivery conforming product ahead of location and national loyalties.

The world grows smaller as the 21st century approaches. ISO 9000 will bring customers closer to suppliers. It will also bring competitors closer to traditional customers and markets.

Understanding Quality Standards

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?Quality? is an easy concept to understand but difficult to define. Most contemporary definitions are subjective in nature. In the context of an ISO 9000 standard, ?quality? is defined as:

Quality: ?The totality of characteristics of an entity that bear on its ability to satisfy stated and implied needs.?

Simply put, ?quality? is the sum total of all the parts of an entity that directly or indirectly affect its actions or ability to meet the goals or expected result. Quality is therefore not only the result itself; it is also all the activities that lead up to that result. (Note: An ?entity? in this definition can be a process, a product, a company or organization, a system, a person, or any combination thereof.)

Understanding the accepted and narrower product (or service) definition of ?quality? is nevertheless important. It is usually defined as a ?fitness for use? or ?fitness for purpose.? A manufacturer that consistently produces product that is unfit for use is unlikely to stay in business. Most manufacturers base production activities on agreed technical standards so as to produce a standard result. Specifications are often technically complex, and production well managed, leading some executives to question the need for additional ISO 9000 quality assurance standards.

However, ISO 9000-1 (the basic guidance document in the ISO 9000 Series) states, ?Specifications may not in themselves guarantee that a customer?s requirements will be met consistently.? It is important to recognize that ?quality? under ISO guidelines is not exclusively the result of product standards and/or technical specifications. Quality is also a separate but an interconnected result of an effective quality management system.

ISO 9000 standards are founded on the principle that consistent product quality is achieved by the parallel applications of a quality system and product standards. The latter provides the technical standards under which the production process operates to produce the desired result.  However, a quality system is not related to the any particular technical standard. It is a method under which your company uses ISO 9000 standards to identify and empower the management systems needed to design, produce, deliver and support  products that conform with customer expectations. 

Product standards are specific to that product. The Quality System enhances every activity, irrespective of the specific product. ?Quality,? under the ISO definition, is therefore achieved through the control of two types of standards: technical and behavioral.  Both are equally important but neither is overly reliant on the other.  Managing technical quality has historically relied on inspection ?after the fact.? Managing human error has traditionally relied on the apportionment of blame, sometimes with disciplinary consequences. ISO 9000 principles seek to move past these traditional approaches by systemizing quality control and reducing negative quality events. It is a system of total process overview with the ability to quickly intervene when quality problems arise.

ISO 9000-1 bases effective quality control on four fundamentals:

 The first two fundamentals rely on product standards and technical specifications. The others rely primarily on the quality system. An effective quality assurance management program essentially contains an equal commitment to product specifications and the human production processes. 

The frequently used term, ?Quality Assurance,? is not necessarily interchangeable with ?Quality.?  Quality is the end result of effective Quality Assurance efforts. Quality assurance is defined as:

Quality Assurance:  ?all the planned and systematic activities implemented within the quality system, and demonstrated as needed, to provide adequate confidence that an entity will fulfill requirements for quality.?

The intent of your quality assurance system is to prevent problems. By preventing problems, you reduce and hopefully eliminate, the production of nonconforming product that does not meet the expectations of your customers (or ?conform? to specifications).

For your quality assurance efforts to prevent problems from occurring, it is critical that you are able to detect them when they do occur. You must then identify the cause, remedy the cause, and prevent recurrence. If you do not, you do not have a true quality assurance system. Without the ability to identify and correct nonconforming events (quality failures), all other quality activities will be jeopardized. 

The ISO Standards Explained

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The original ISO Series, issued in 1987, was revised and reissued in 1994. The external quality assurance standards, ISO 9001, ISO 9002 and ISO 9003, contain specific elements that a company?s quality system must contain for compliance and subsequent certification. However, the standards do not specify how a company is required to implement the essential elements. The requirements are generic and broadly suited to any industrial or economic activity.

ISO standards are not intended to enforce a worldwide uniform quality assurance method. Companies are encouraged to adopt the standard best suited to their needs and then adapt a quality system that complies with the essential ISO elements but is also consistent with the individual requirements of each company.  A flexible quality system is intended to conform with the company?s processes and not to force company to change its basic production methods. 

There are three basic ISO quality standards groups. These are defined as:

Selecting A Standard

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The purpose of the three primary or conformance standards is to demonstrate confidence to the company?s customers that its quality system will provide a mutually satisfactory and consistently delivered product or service.

The three standards (ISO 9001/9002/9003) are not different levels of quality; the standards differ only in their scope. This offers the flexibility required to adapt an effective quality system to different company needs.

For example, ISO 9001 includes a Design Control element while ISO 9002 does not. A company that does not have a product design function might prefer the ISO 9002 standard for its quality system. Customers may also demand a particular certification standard from all their vendors. If your company has not determined its applicable standard, consider your customers? needs first. If you are required to deliver product that conforms to one standard, then that is the standard you should use.  If not, consider the following explanations of each primary or conformance standard:

ISO 9001, Quality systems?Model for quality assurance in design/development, production, installation and servicing is the most comprehensive primary or conformance standard. It includes all the elements or key parts of ISO 9002 and ISO 9003 and also requires a that quality system be in place for company design, development and servicing activities. ISO 9001 is commonly used in manufacturing and processing companies where it necessary to control product quality throughout the entire production cycle, from design and raw materials to shipping and after-sales servicing. It is also used where a customer contract specifies product design and/or the raw materials to be used in the production process. 

ISO 9002, Quality systems?Model for quality assurance in production, installation and servicing is similar to ISO 9001 but does not include the design function. It is useful for any company that does not design product but instead operates only production processes in accordance with designs and technical specifications supplied or approved by their customers. 

ISO 9003, Quality systems?Model for quality assurance in final inspection and test is the least stringent  primary standard. Its elements provide for quality assurance only during the final inspection and testing cycle of a company?s product. This standard is suitable for products and services that are not unduly complex in nature. Unlike ISO 9001 and 9002, the standard does not provide any in-process quality controls. The identification of nonconforming product is made only at the final stage of the production process immediately prior to shipping product to customers. 

Carefully consider your application before deciding on a standard. Most manufacturing and other production process activities are better suited to the ISO 9001 standard (or ISO 9002 if their is no design or development activity in the company). The simplicity of ISO 9003 may be a tempting compromise for some companies but it can also be an expensive proposition.

ISO 9001 and ISO 9002 give you the tools you require to introduce a quality system throughout the production process. Progressively, the system will reduce and eventually even eliminate in-process quality failures resulting in a significant drop in nonconforming product throughout the full production cycle. But identifying problems only at the point of final inspection and testing does nothing to correct costly mistakes. It only prevents nonconforming product from reaching the customer.

ISO 9003 is ideally suited to companies with simple production processes where nonconforming product can be easily reintroduced into the production process for reworking, and can be done so without significant financial loss. Other operations are better suited to ISO 9001 or ISO 9002 standards.

It is important to choose the standard that suits your company?s needs. The primary or compliance standards are designed to provide the basic building blocks for customizing a quality system. It is not necessary to document every production task or operation if the lack of such documentation does not adversely impact on the goal of external quality assurance. Avoid the trap of creating a paperwork nightmare. Procedures and task instructions must meet specific quality control objectives. A quality management system is not an end in itself; it is a tool designed to complement existing company production methods.

The principles of ISO external quality assurance are broad and flexible. An effective quality system works for the company and its customers. It should not become an all-consuming activity that impedes production or other company activities.

An Introduction to
The International Organization for Standards

The following text is ? ISO  and was last updated 1999-01-08 (8 January 1999). It has been used with the written permission of ISO. [Reference] It was posted here on 20010212.

What are standards?

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Standards are documented agreements containing technical specifications or other precise criteria to be used consistently as rules, guidelines, or definitions of characteristics, to ensure that materials, products, processes and services are fit for their purpose.

For example, the format of the credit cards, phone cards, and "smart" cards that have become commonplace is derived from an ISO International Standard. Adhering to the standard, which defines such features as an optimal thickness (0,76 mm), means that the cards can be used worldwide.

International Standards thus contribute to making life simpler, and to increasing the reliability and effectiveness of the goods and services we use.

What is ISO?

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The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is a worldwide federation of national standards bodies from some 130 countries, one from each country.

ISO is a non-governmental organization established in 1947. The mission of ISO is to promote the development of standardization and related activities in the world with a view to facilitating the international exchange of goods and services, and to developing cooperation in the spheres of intellectual, scientific, technological and economic activity. ISO's work results in international agreements which are published as International Standards.

ISO's Name

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Many people will have noticed a seeming lack of correspondence between the official title when used in full, International Organization for Standardization, and the short form, ISO. Shouldn't the acronym be "IOS"? Yes, if it were an acronym ? which it is not.

In fact, "ISO" is a word, derived from the Greek isos, meaning "equal", which is the root of the prefix "iso-" that occurs in a host of terms, such as "isometric" (of equal measure or dimensions) and "isonomy" (equality of laws, or of people before the law).

From "equal" to "standard", the line of thinking that led to the choice of "ISO" as the name of the organization is easy to follow. In addition, the name ISO is used around the world to denote the organization, thus avoiding the plethora of acronyms resulting from the translation of "International Organization for Standardization" into the different national languages of members, e.g. IOS in English, OIN in French (from Organisation internationale de normalisation). Whatever the country, the short form of the Organization's name is always ISO.

Why is international standardization needed?

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The existence of non-harmonized standards for similar technologies in different countries or regions can contribute to so-called "technical barriers to trade". Export-minded industries have long sensed the need to agree on world standards to help rationalize the international trading process. This was the origin of the establishment of ISO.

International standardization is well-established for many technologies in such diverse fields as information processing and communications, textiles, packaging, distribution of goods, energy production and utilization, shipbuilding, banking and financial services. It will continue to grow in importance for all sectors of industrial activity for the foreseeable future. The main reasons are:

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ISO's achievements

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Below are some examples of ISO standards that have been widely adopted, giving clear benefits to industry, trade and consumers.

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