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7. ISO 9000 and other Quality Standard

Concept of Quality Standard :

To assure the quality one has to ensure the quality. It is necessary to make
systematic controls at every stage and also to take critical review of efforts and
achievements of the company with respect to quality of the product.
Producing consistently good quality products or service is very important for
customer confidence and higher positioning of buyer perception. Every
conscious company who wants to survive and grow, have either adopted this
standard or in process of adopting it. One of the far most development in the
quality arena in world trade is the evolution of quality management systems.
Quality management systems establish a framework for how a business
manages its key successes. They can help whether the business offers products
or services regardless of the size of the industry. They can also help new
businesses start off on the right foot by ensuring processes meet recognised
standards. To comply with the standards the first need is to implement a
quality management system. Implementing a quality management system can
help the business to:

 Achieve greater consistency in the activities in providing products or

services
 Reduce expensive mistakes
 Increase efficiency by improving use of time and resources
 Improve customer satisfaction
 Market the business more effectively
 Exploit new market sectors and territories
 Manage growth more effectively
 Constantly improve the products, processes and systems
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 IS
O :9000 and IS: 14000 : With increased focus on quality issues
worldwide, the international organisation for standardisation (ISO)
started the work on quality standardisation through their technical
committees and evolved 6 standards related to the quality. ISO 8402 in
the year 1986 followed by ISO: 900O, ISO: 9001 , ISO: 9002, ISO: 9003
AND ISO :9004 in the year 1987. Later 5 of these are popularly known as
ISO 9000 series. ISO : 9000 is the only available internationally accepted
standard for quality management system in the world. ISO: 9000 is
applicable to all type of organisations in manufacturing or service
sectors. ISO :9000 series is the main set of international standards
applying to the management of quality systems.

ISO: 9000 series (equivalent Indian Standards are IS: 14000). In order to evolve
and implement appropriate procedure, documents and records the company
has to train every single employee towards these quality systems. ISO 9000
standards involve all employees, workmen upwards to the level of directors.
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All these need to be trained to understand and appreciate both implicit and
explicit requirements of the standards.

ISO: 9000 quality standards stipulate certain management practices as

guidelines and minimum requirements for making quality of products and
services conforming to the needs of customers. These are developed for
facilitating international exchange of goods and services. All these systems are
essentially self disciplined standards based on the principles of harmonization
of specification and continuous surveillance by third party.

ISO: 8402: 1986 (IS: 13999: 1988) Vocabulary

This gives the definition of various terms (for example, quality, inspection,
reliability, specifications etc.) used in the development of standards on quality
systems. The definitions given in the standards are for use in understanding
the quality concepts, preparation of quality standards and for use in quality.

1. ISO: 9000 (IS:14000)

Quality Management and Quality Assurance Standard

The standard gives guidelines for selection and use of appropriate model.

2. ISO: 9001: 1987 (IS: 14001:1988)

Model for Quality Assurance in Design/Development, Production
Installation and Servicing.
This is most exhaustive standard. ISO 9001 standard gives a model for quality assurance at
all stages starting from designing the product and continuing after the product is delivered
to the customer. ISO 9001 applies to the industries who design, produce, install product
and provide service after sales as per the requirement of the customer. Manufactures of (a)
house hold goods like T V, Refrigerator, Cooler etc. (b) Perishable consumer goods like
Tooth- paste etc. which have both servicing and design/development have to work towards
ISO 9001.

3. ISO : 9002 : 1987 (IS : 14002 :1988)

Model for Quality Assurance in production and installation
In some cases the manufacturer gives his own design to meet the customers requirements
and has to only prove the production process is capable of producing the
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product/equipment as per the requirements of the customer and the supplier can install the
product/equipment at the customer’s premises satisfactorily. Civil structures, construction
of bridge etc. are the examples.

4. ISO : 9003 : 1987 ( IS : 14003 : 1988 )

Model for Quality Assurance in Final Inspection and Test
The customer is not concerned with how they are manufactured. The customer is
interested only in getting the product of desired quality as stated by the supplier /or
him. ISO 9003 deals with quality assurance related to final inspection and testing.
Examples of such products are automobile , domestic appliances etc.

5. ISO : 9004 : 1987 (IS : 14004 : 1991)

ISO 9004 provides guidelines for quality management and quality system elements.

ISO : 9001, 9002 and 9003 apply where a contract between supplier and
customer/contractor and non contractual situations companies may adopt ISO :9004.

Necessity for ISO Certification :

Quality and standardisation are the two essential pre- requisites for a company to market its
product and services in the competitive business environment. Quality thus begins with
standards. Quality encompasses safety, reliability, durability, performance and acceptability
of products by consumers. Hence, quality needs are to be built in the product during
research, design, development and production. And in fact the foundation on which quality
is built is the standards. Companies need ISO certification for the following reasons to:

1. Meet customer requirements

2. Get more revenue and business from customers
3. Improve company and product quality
4. Increase customer satisfaction with company products
5. Describe, understand and communicate the company processes
6. Develop a professional culture and better employee morale
7. Improve the consistency of the operations
8. Focus management and employees
9. Improve efficiency, reduce waste and save money
10. Achieve international quality recognition

The certification is to be renewed for a further period of three years if requirements are
adhered to continuously. The typical certification flow chart is as shown in the Figure.

Applicant
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Applicant with Manual

Document

Audit at site

Not Conforming
Corrective Action

Audit
Report

Conforming

Certificate Issue

Plan Surveillance

3 years
Do Act

Renewal
Check

Certification flow chart

Other Quality standards :

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It has to be updated or modified to meet the demand of the time for its
proper functioning. It has to be updated or modified to meet the demand of
the time , otherwise the system will lose its effectiveness or fail to meet the
requirements of time. It is also necessary to show to the users that the system
is functioning well in its expected objectives.

ISO : 10011-1: 1990 ( IS : 14011-1 : 1990)

Guidelines for Auditing Quality Systems

Part - Auditing

This standard describes the rule of auditors, their responsibilities, the elements
of auditing, executing the audit, reporting etc.

ISO : 11011-2 : 1990 ( IS : 14011-2 : 1990)

Guidelines for Auditing Quality Systems

Part - 2 : Qualification Criteria for Quality Auditors

This standard deals with the qualification criteria for quality system auditors,
their capabilities to perform the audit and their freedom from influence.

ISO : 11011-3 : 1990 ( IS : 14011-3 : 1990)

Guidelines for Auditing Quality Systems

Part - 3 : Management of Audit Programmes

This standard deals with establishment of audit function. It describes that the
management should establish a separate quality audit function outside the
quality system implementation.