ISO 9000

ISO means International Organization for Standardization which is a standard-setting establishment. It combines representatives from various national standards organizations. It is a non-government organization that develops standards to ensure the quality, safety, and efficiency of products, services, and systems.

ISO9000 is one of the series or family of quality management standards formed by ISO for companies to help companies effectively document the quality system elements needed to maintain an efficient quality system. They are not specific to any one industry and can be applied to organizations of any size. ISO 9000 lays out best practices, guidelines, and a standard vocabulary for quality management systems. ISO 9000 was first published in 1987 by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), a specialized international agency for standardization composed of the national standards bodies of more than 160 countries.

ISO 9000 series of Standards

The ISO 9000 family contains these standards:

• ISO 9001:2015: Quality Management Systems – Requirements
• ISO 9000:2015: Quality Management Systems – Fundamentals and Vocabulary (definitions)
• ISO 9004:2018: Quality Management – Quality of an Organization – Guidance to Achieve Sustained Success (continuous improvement)
• ISO 19011:2018: Guidelines for Auditing Management Systems