ISO Standards 101

By Johanna Guelas

Not every company applying for an ISO certification will be applying for the same standard. There are different standards in place, depending on the type of industry a company or organization belongs to and the kind of products or services it offers. Here are some of the most common types of ISO standards that organizations apply for:

ISO 9000

The ISO 9000 series is one of two very popular ISO standards. In fact, many of the organizations and companies you'll find today are certified using this management system. At present, there are hundreds of thousands of companies and organizations that have the ISO 9000 standard.

There are certain requirements for this type of ISO standard, such as:
- a set number of standards that are used for important business processes
- record keeping
- detection of defects or review of problems in products and services
- continual improvement

The ISO 9000 standard is a standard that companies apply for if they:
- want to elevate their company's quality requirements
- want to comply with the standards set by their suppliers or clients
- improve their performance in terms of production and service
- improve customer satisfaction

ISO 9000 does not guarantee the quality of their end products or services, only the related business processes involved.

Industries that are covered by the ISO 9000 standard include automotive, aerospace and telecommunications, among others.

ISO 14000

The ISO 14000 standard is a series that aims to incorporate environmental issues into the processes, operations, standards and considerations of an organization. Some of the requirements for this standard include:
- establishment and implementation of an organization's environmental policy
- planning of related objectives
- implementation of related programs
- identification of the impacts of a company's products and/or services on the environment
- management review
- any corrective actions

This family of ISO standards ranges from ISO 14001 to ISO 14977. Industries that are covered by the ISO 14000 standard include electronics, Information Technology (hardware, software and related parts and components) and medical, among others.

There are also certain ISO standards that are being applied for parts or component suppliers for certain manufacturers. For suppliers of automotive manufacturers such as GM and Ford, for example, the ISO 14001 standard is also being used. For production materials, parts and services suppliers for Ford, GM and Daimler-Chrysler, the standards for QS 9000 are in place.

The management systems mentioned above are just a few of the series of ISO standards that are applicable today. ISO standards range from ISO 1 to ISO 38500, each of which implements certain requirements that organizations have to meet.