You may be curious about the difference between the name of 'organization: International Organization for Standardization and the initials of the ISO. If it were an acronym, you'd think that would be IOS. But the truth is, is not an acronym.

ISO ISO is derived from the Greek word, as "significant. Iso-prefix in many words, such as isometric, which means equal measure or dimensions and isonomia, which means that equality laws or persons before the law. Equal "Standard"selection of the ISO in the name of the organization is easy to follow. The name also has the advantage that it is the same in each of its three official languages – English, French and Russian. Thus the confusion that might arise with the acronym avoided (ie, IOS must conform to the official title of the organization in French – the International Organization for Standardization) no.

What does it mean for the global standardization me and you? Well,With ISO, we are able to withdraw cash from an ATM (ATM) in New York, Hong Kong, Buenos Aires or Moscow. The format of credit card, phone cards and smart cards are based on a series of ISO standards. Applying these standards, which describe the characteristics such as size and thickness of the paper and the location and format of data on magnetic stripe, this means that all cash machines, mobile phones and other paper machines in the world of maps can be read. FromISO certification is primarily focused on initial development of products specific standards. But in the mid-1980, ISO started its work with standards-related. This degree has led following the famous ISO 9000 series of standards ISO 13485, ISO 14001 and others.

The story of the requirements for quality systems, or at least some elements of quality systems, which dates back to prehistoric times. Nearly 4000 years ago, the 18th century BC, Hammurabi, king ofBabylonia developed the first in the register of the law. The Code of Hammurabi is a collection of laws and decree, and is considered the first comprehensive legal rule. Code are engraved on a block of black diorite nearly 2.4 meters, or about 8 meters high. A team of French archaeologists excavated in the block of Susa, in Iraq, formerly ancient Elam, in the winter of 1901-1902. The block was broken into three pieces, has been restored and now rests in the Louvre museum in Paris. Code of Hammurabi,Translated by LW King [1], that some points that concern can be addressed to a system of quality:

Article 122 "If any silver, gold or anything else to continue, so that leaves everything to some witnesses, to sign a contract and then deliver it to storage."

Article 229 "If a builder build a house for one person and not build correctly, and the house which he built fall in and kill its owner, the entrepreneur must be killed."

Although Article 122implies the need for a contract that contained in Part 7.4.2 of ISO 9001, section 229 appears to refer a lot of people might say that a preventive action is required by point 8.5.3 of the standard. Centuries later, 11 January 1723, Peter the Great issued a decree, as I take preventive action, to sweep the factory owner Armory Tulsk for providing faulty munitions for the army of the Tsar.

The history of the current standards for quality management systems backThen released 1959 U.S. Department of Defense, a program of quality assurance system under the name of a MIL-Q-9858 For nearly three decades, this standard is used primarily for the aerospace and defense of the United States. In mid-1960, introduced the former Soviet Union, a national standard (KC YKP) in an attempt to control the quality throughout the country.

In 1979, British Standards Institution (BSI) has developed the first commercial standards for quality systems, such as BS 5750 was known.That same year, BSI has published its first evidence of a small cement plant in England, in accordance with BS 5750. It 'been almost a decade has taken the international community to recognize the benefits of standards for quality systems.

In 1987, the ISO completed and published its 9000, which most of the elements of BS 5750 in ISO 9001. ISO 9000 series of standards first gained popularity in Europe when the European Union (EU), under the title EN29,000, according to ISO 9000 since late 1980, BS 5750 and ISO 9000 should reach the U.S. market.

The most recent ISO 9001 registration data shows impressive growth. The number of ISO 9001, issued around the world for quality management systems to reach 670,399 by the end of 2004, an increase of 35 percent over the previous year, according to the ISO standard. The rise of the new certificates ISO 9001 was the highest since the organization began its annual review of ISO1993

ISO 9001 is not the specific product and can be used by a wide range of production and services. Long ago, I had a flag-size poster seen in a cinema in Singapore boasts of its registration to ISO 9001. One of my European colleagues have recently said that submit an application for registration of a church choir received.

ISO 9001 requires companies to develop and implement a basic system of quality by using specific elementsto ensure that the company is able to maintain consistency in its processes, and thus give its customers a consistent quality of products and services. ISO 9001:2000 is a set of standard requirements for quality systems. There are three main rules in this group:

ISO 9000:2000 – Vocabulary

ISO 9001:2000 – Requirements

ISO 9004:2000 – Guidelines for performance improvement

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