Standards lead to ever higher levels of quality

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Apr 18, 2005

ISO9000, ISO14000, ISO9001, ISO14001 - readers will have certainly heard about ISO certifications, but what is ISO and what are its purposes?

The ISO (International Organisation for Standardisation), created in 1947, is the world's largest developer of standards, which have social and economic repercussions.

ISO is a network of the national standards institutes of 148 countries, on the basis of one member per country, with a Central Secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland, that co-ordinates the system.

ISO members are not delegations of national governments, however, they represent independent interests on international base.

Therefore, ISO is able to act as a bridging organisation in which a consensus can be reached on solutions that meet both the requirements of business and the needs of society, such as consumers and users.

If you wonder about the abbreviation, it comes from the Greek "isos" meaning "equal".

That was decided since at the outset to give a global name to the ISO organisation avoiding all differences due to the language translations.

As a nongovernmental organisation, its aims are to put in place standards and guidance meant not only for public authorities but also for end users.

Therefore ISO continually introduces and refines standards for the benefit of all.

Indeed, these standards lead to ever higher levels of quality, efficiency and safety.

For example, with their products in compliance with the adapted requirements and reaching a certain quality level, manufacturers will be able to market them worldwide and gain the confidence of their future customers who have a great quality reference to rely on.

Likewise, it provides manufacturers with elements contributing to safer goods, efficient production and distribution chains with cost economies.

International standards provide the technological and scientific bases supporting health, safety and environmental legislation.

Recently, for example, governments have become more and more demanding regarding environmental legislation and the relevance of standards such as ISO14001 has risen consequently.

Conformity of products and services to international standards provides assurance about their quality, safety and reliability.

And also it ensures the safety of the transport, machinery and tools they use.

For these reasons end users attach a real importance to ISO as proof of quality and this is particularly due to relevant confidence granted to this international organisation.

TUV International UK, part of TUV Rheinland Group, as a notified body has the capability to assess and confirm that management systems are consistent with various published ISO standards relevant to this area.

Among the whole range of certifications, here are the most recognisable: ISO9001:2000, certification of quality management systems; ISO14001:2004, certification of environmental management systems; ISO13485, certification of quality systems for medical devices; and ISO/TS16949, quality systems for automotive serial and service part production.