ISO stands for The International Organization for Standardization. ISO is a worldwide federation of representatives from 140 countries and established in 1947. Their job is to develop standardization and related activities to facilitate the international exchange of goods and services. Example: The format of credit cards and phone cards is derived from an ISO standard, which defines the optimal thickness (0.76 mm), which means that the cards can be used worldwide.

ISO is not an acronym. ISO is a Greek word meaning equal. Example: Isometric; meaning of equal measure. From equal to standard, is the line of thinking that led to the choice of ISO and the name of the organization. The name ISO is used around the world to denote the organization thus avoiding the plethora of acronyms resulting from the translation of International Organization for Standardization. Example: In French, OIN.

The ISO 9000 family of standards represents the international consensus on good management practices with the aim of ensuring that the organization can time and time again deliver the product or services that meet the client's quality requirements. These good practices have been distilled into a set of standardized requirements for a quality management system.

ISO 9001 is the standard for companies that perform the following: design, development, production, installation and servicing.

The ISO 9001:1994 standard focused mainly on quality assurance. The new standard ISO 9001:2000 in addition to quality assurance of product also aims to enhance customer satisfaction. The revised standard promotes the adoption of a process approach when developing, implementing and improving the effectiveness of a quality management system, to enhance customer satisfaction by meeting customer requirements.

Below are the eight quality management principles on which the quality management system standards of the revised ISO 9000:2000 series are based.

• Customer Focus.
• Leadership.
• Involvement Of People.
• Process Approach.
• Systems Approach To Management.
• Continual Improvement.
• Factual Approach To Decision Making.
• Mutually Beneficial Supplier Relationships

• Meeting Clients Expectations (Focusing On Client's Perception And Requirements)
• Continuous Improvement Of Processes And Systems
• Competing In A Global Market
• Defect Prevention
• Reduction Of Variation
• Reduction Of Waste