The ISO Quality Vocabulary

The ISO 9000 family of standards is primarily concerned with quality management. Like
art, everyone may have his or her own definitions of quality, and what constitutes a
quality product or service.

To avoid subjective definitions of key terms like quality, ISO 9000:2000 defines the
terminology for quality management systems, and describes related fundamentals.

The ISO 9000:2000 "Quality management systems – Fundamentals and vocabulary"

standard contains the specific definitions of terms related to quality and quality
management systems. ISO 9000:2000 has also redefined some existing terminology from
previous versions to reflect its process-centered approach more accurately.

ISO 9000:2000 defines terms related to:

 quality
 management
 organization
 process and product
 characteristics
 conformity
 documents
 examinations
 audits
 quality assurance for measurement processes.

The quality vocabulary

Some terms build upon the meanings of other terms in the quality vocabulary. Examples
of quality vocabulary terms include:
 quality—ability of a set of inherent characteristics of a product, system, or
process to fulfill requirements of customers and other interested parties
 requirement—need or expectation that is stated, customarily implied, or
obligatory
 quality requirement—requirement for inherent characteristics of a product,
process, or system
 customer satisfaction—customer's opinion of the degree to which a transaction
has met the customer's needs and expectations
 customer dissatisfaction—customer's opinion of the degree to which a
transaction has failed to meet the customer's needs and expectations
 capability—ability of an organization, system, or process to realize a product that
fulfills the requirements for that product
 grade—category or rank given to different quality requirements for products,
processes, or systems having the same functional use.
The following quality vocabulary terms deal with the management of quality:
 quality management system—system to establish quality policy and quality
objectives and to achieve those objectives
 quality assurance—part of quality management, focused on providing
confidence that quality requirements are being fulfilled
 quality policy—overall intentions and direction of an organization related to
quality as formally expressed by top management
 quality objective—something sought after, or aimed for, related to quality
 quality planning—part of quality management focused on setting quality
objectives and specifying necessary operational processes and related resources to
fulfill the quality objectives
 quality improvement—part of quality management, focused on increased
effectiveness and efficiency
 effectiveness—measure of the extent to which planned activities are realized and
planned results achieved
 efficiency—relationship between the result achieved and the resources used.

Your organization may have a culture that places the highest priority on the customer. To
help you meet customer expectations, the ISO 9000:2000 quality vocabulary defines the
following terms:
 Customer—An organization or person that receives a product. A customer can be
a consumer, client, end-user, retailer or purchaser.
 Supplier—An organization or person that provides a product. A supplier can be a
producer, distributor, retailer or vendor.
 Interested party—A person or group having an interest in the performance or
success of an organization. Customers, owners, bankers, unions and professional
societies are interested parties.

ISO 9000:2000 quality vocabulary definitions are specific enough to allow you to draw
clear distinctions between terms that might have the same meaning outside the quality
world. Examples include the three terms relating to achieving conformity:
 Corrective action—Action taken to eliminate the cause of a detected
nonconformity. A corrective action is taken to prevent recurrence of
nonconformity.
 Correction—Action taken to eliminate a detected nonconformity. A correction
may involve repair.
 Repair—Action taken on a nonconforming product to make it conform to the
requirements. Repair includes reworking a product that did not meet the
requirements so that it does conform.

The following terms provide another example of a critical distinction in quality

vocabulary:
 Specification—Specifications define requirements, and may be related to
activities or products. A technical illustration is an example of a specification.
 Guideline—Guidelines outline recommendations or suggestions. A customer
service handbook is an example of a guideline.
Using standard quality terms helps to eliminate confusion and conflicts, and brings your
organization a step closer to attaining ISO 9001:2000 certification.