INTRODUCTION

ISO is the International Organization for Standardization. It has a membership of 163* national standards institutes from countries large and small, industrialized and developing, in all regions of the world, ISO develops voluntary technical standards which add value to all types of business operations. They contribute to the dissemination of technology and good business practice. They support the development, manufacturing and supply of more efficient, safer and cleaner products and services. They make trade between countries easier and fairer. ISO standards also safeguard users and consumers, and make many aspects of their lives simpler.

ISO develops only those standards that are required by the market. This work is carried out by experts coming from the industrial, technical and business sectors which have asked for the standard, and which subsequently put them to use. These experts may be joined by others with relevant knowledge, such as representatives of government agencies, consumer organizations, academia and testing laboratories. Published under the designation of International Standards, ISO standards represent an international consensus on the state of the art in the technology or good practice concerned. ISOs portfolio of more than 17 800* standards and related documents address all three dimensions of sustainable development: economic, environmental and social.

HISTORY: The organization which today is known as ISO began in 1926 as the International Federation of the National Standardizing Associations (ISA). This organization focused heavily on mechanical engineering. It was disbanded in 1942 during the Second World War but was re-organized under the current name, ISO, in 1946. ISO is a voluntary organization whose members are recognized authorities on standards, each one representing one country. The bulk of the work of ISO is done by the 2700 technical committees, subcommittees, and working groups. Each committee and subcommittee is headed

by a Secretariat from one of the member organizations. ISO 9001:2008 is implemented by over a million organizations in 176 countries.

ISO 9000 Quality management The ISO 9000 family addresses "Quality management".

This means what the organization does to fulfil:

The and

customer's

quality

requirements,

Applicable while aiming to

regulatory

requirements,

Enhance and

customer

satisfaction,

Achieve

continual

improvement

of

its

performance

in

pursuit

of these objectives.

ISO 9000 essentials

The ISO 9000 family of standards represents an international consensus on good quality management practices. It consists of standards and guidelines relating to quality management systems and related supporting standards.

ISO 9001:2008 is the standard that provides a set of standardized requirements for a quality management system, regardless of what the user organization does, its size, or whether it is in the private, or public sector. It is the only standard in the family against which organizations can be certified although certification is not a compulsory requirement of the standard. The other standards in the family cover specific aspects such as fundamentals and vocabulary, performance improvements, documentation, training, and financial and economic aspects.

Why an organization should implement ISO 9001:2008 Without satisfied customers, an organization is in peril! To keep customers satisfied, the organization needs to meet their requirements. The ISO 9001:2008 standard provides a tried and tested framework for taking a systematic approach to managing the organization's processes so that they consistently turn out product that satisfies customers' expectations.

Checking that it works 1. The standard requires the organization itself to audit its ISO 9001:2008-based quality system to verify that it is managing its processes effectively - or, to put it another way, to check that it is fully in control of its activities. 2. In addition, the organization may invite its clients to audit the quality system in order to give them confidence that the organization is capable of delivering products or services that will meet their requirements. 3. Lastly, the organization may engage the services of an independent quality system certification body to obtain an ISO 9001:2008 certificate of conformity. This last option has proved extremely popular in the market-place because of the perceived credibility of an independent assessment. The organization may thus avoid multiple audits by its clients, or reduce the frequency or duration of client audits. The certificate can also serve as a business reference between the

organization and potential clients, especially when supplier and client are new to each other, or far removed geographically, as in an export context.