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International organisation of standardisation - Basics
What is ISO?
The International Organization for Standardization
is the specialized international agency for standardization
comprising the national standards bodies of 91 countries.
The purpose of ISO is to promote the development of standardization
and related world activities to facilitate to international
exchange of goods and services and to develop cooperation
in intellectual, scientific, technological and economic
activity. The results of ISO technical work are published
as International standards.
ISO 9000 SERIES
It is a series of standards on Quality Management
System. This was brought in for the purpose of establishing
a customer oriented quality discipline in marketing, design
engineering, procurement, production, and inspection, testing
related service functions.
The following constitute ISO 9000 series.
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ISO 9001-- Quality systems-Model for quality
Assurance in design/development, production, installation
and servicing.
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ISO 9002—Quality Systems-Model for Quality
Assurance in production installation and servicing.
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ISO 9003—Quality systems—Model for Quality
Assurance in final inspection and test.
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ISO 9004—Quality Management and Quality
system elements- Guidelines.
Why an organization should go for ISO 9000
certification.
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The basic objective of every organization
is to attain excellence in economic performance.
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The most important factor for good economic
performance is quality of products/services
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Quality is the basic customer decision
factor. Whether a buyer is a housewife, industrial organization,
government department or defense program, departmental
store or importer, everyone wants to buy only best quality
product.
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A buyer looks for an organization, which
has established consistency in quality of products or
services.
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Consistently producing good quality product
or service is very important for customer confidence and
higher positioning of buyer perceptions. Such an effort
needs a set of rules or context of trading at international
levels, rationalising and standardization of national
guidelines are the needed efforts
Every conscious company, which wants to survive
and grow, must realize in a practical manner should improve
one’s business in the world standards are to be met.
How can one establish the Quality Management
System and get the certification? This involves a structured
approach, consisting of :
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Preparation: create awareness amongst
all the employees about the need for ISO 9000 certification
and then necessary training should be given.
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Implementation: An action plan should
be worked out after reviewing the organizations business
policies. Next step is the documentation, which involves
preparation of quality manual, procedures, work-instruction,
quality plans and quality records.
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Certification: Contact the accredited
certification body and fulfill the requirements of the
chosen standards.
Advantages of ISO 9000 Quality Systems:
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Reduction in quality costs.
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Improvement in work culture and quality
of products and services.
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Involvement and commitments of management
and employees.
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Regular audit and management reviews
establish good communications.
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Increased market share and customer confidence.
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To deal with only one certification agency.
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Benefits the members of organization
and society.
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Improved presence in national and international
markets.
Further Reading: Booklet on ISO 9000
& QS 9000 By K. Ganapathy & etal.
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