What is ISO 9000?

Quality is something every company strives for and is often times very difficult to achieve. Complications concerning efficiency and quality present themselves everyday in business, whether an important document cannot be found or a consumer finds a product not up to their expectations. How can a company increase the quality of its products and services? The answer is ISO 9000. As standards go, ISO 9000 is one of the most widely recognized in the world. ISO 9000 is a quality management standard that presents guidelines intended to increase business efficiency and customer satisfaction. The goal of ISO 9000 is to embed a quality management system within an organization, increasing productivity, reducing unnecessary costs, and ensuring quality of processes and products. ISO 9001 is applicable to businesses and organizations from every sector. The process oriented approach makes the standard applicable to service organizations as well. Its general guidelines allow for the flexibility needed for today’s diverse business world.