Bureau of Indian Standards - ISI German Standard - DIN American Standard British Standard Japanese Standard

International Organization for Standardization based in Geneva ISO In Greek means the same !

The Plan Do Check Act (PDCA) cycle is the operating principle of ISO's management system standards.
Plan establish objectives and make plans (analyze your organization's situation, establish your overall objectives and set your interim targets, and develop plans to achieve them). Do implement your plans (do what you planned do). Check measure your results (measure/monitor how far your actual achievements meet your planned objectives).

Act correct and improve your plans and how you put them into practice (correct and learn from your mistakes to improve your plans in order to achieve better results next time).

How ISO management system standards put state-of-the-art practices within the reach of all organization ? In a very small organization, there may be no "system", just "our way of doing things", and "our way" is probably not written down, but all in the head of the manager or owner. The larger the organization, and the more people involved, the more the likelihood that there are written procedures, instructions, forms or records. These help ensure that everyone is not just "doing his or her own thing", and that the organization goes about its business in an orderly and structured way. This means that time, money and other resources are utilized efficiently.

To be really efficient and effective, the organization can manage its way of doing things by systemizing it. This ensures that nothing important is left out and that everyone is clear about who is responsible for doing what, when, how, why and where. Large organizations, or ones with complicated processes, could not function well without management systems. Companies in such fields as aerospace, automobiles, defence, or health care devices have been operating management systems for years. ISO's management system standards make this good management practice available to organizations of all sizes, in all sectors, everywhere in the world.

The ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 families are among ISO's best known standards ever. ISO 9001:2000 and ISO 14001 (1996 and 2004 versions) are implemented by over a million organizations in 161 countries. The ISO 9000 family addresses "quality management". This means what the organization does to fulfill: the customer's quality requirements, and applicable regulatory requirements, while aiming to enhance customer satisfaction, and achieve continual improvement of its performance in pursuit of these objectives.

The ISO 14000 family addresses "environmental management". This means what the organization does to: minimize harmful effects on the environment caused by its activities, and to achieve continual improvement of its environmental performance.

ISO 9001:2000 and ISO 14001:2004 have become thoroughly integrated with the world economy. ISO 9001:2000 is now firmly established as the globally accepted standard for providing assurance about the quality of goods and services in supplier-customer relations.

ISO 14001:2004 confirms its global relevance for organizations wishing to operate in an environmentally sustainable manner. It is
a unifying base for global businesses and supply chains such as the automotive and oil and gas sectors a technical support for regulation as, for example, in the medical devices sector) a tool for major new economic players to increase their participation in global supply chains, in export trade and in business process outsourcing; a tool for regional integration as shown by their adoption by new or potential members of the European Union in the rise of services in the global economy nearly 33 % of ISO 9001:2000 certificates and 31 % of ISO 14001 (1996 and 2004 versions) certificates in last five years went to organizations in the service sectors.

ISO has no plans to merge ISO 9001:2000 and ISO 14001:2004.

environmental management systems auditing

The ISO 9000 family of standards represents an international consensus on good quality management practices. It consists of standards and guidelines relating to quality management systems and related supporting standards.

ISO 9001:2000 is the standard that provides a set of standardized requirements for a quality management system, regardless of what the user organization does, its size, or whether it is in the private, or public sector. It is the only standard in the family against which organizations can be certified although certification is not a compulsory requirement of the standard. The other standards in the family cover specific aspects such as fundamentals and vocabulary, performance improvements, documentation, training, and financial and economic aspects.

Without satisfied customers, an organization is in peril! To keep customers satisfied, the organization needs to meet their requirements. The ISO 9001:2000 standard provides a tried and tested framework for taking a systematic approach to managing the organization's processes so that they consistently turn out product that satisfies customers' expectations.

The requirements for a quality system have been standardized - but many organizations like to think of themselves as unique. So how does ISO 9001:2000 allow for the diversity ? ISO 9001:2000 lays down what requirements your quality system must meet, but does not dictate how they should be met in any particular organization. This leaves great scope and flexibility for implementation in different business sectors and business cultures, as well as in different national cultures.

The standard requires the organization itself to audit its ISO 9001:2000-based quality system to verify that it is managing its processes effectively - or, to put it another way, to check that it is fully in control of its activities.
In addition, the organization may invite its clients to audit the quality system in order to give them confidence that the organization is capable of delivering products or services that will meet their requirements. Lastly, the organization may engage the services of an independent quality system certification body to obtain an ISO 9001:2000 certificate of conformity. This last option has proved extremely popular in the market-place because of the perceived credibility of an independent assessment.

The organization may thus avoid multiple audits by its clients, or reduce the frequency or duration of client audits. The certificate can also serve as a business reference between the organization and potential clients, especially when supplier and client are new to each other, or far removed geographically, as in an export context.

There are eight quality management principles on which the quality management system standards of the latest ISO 9000:2000 series are based. These principles can be used by senior management as a framework to guide their organizations towards improved performance. The principles are derived from the collective experience and knowledge of the international experts who participate in ISO Technical Committee ISO/TC 176, Quality management and quality assurance, which is responsible for developing and maintaining the ISO 9000 standards.
The eight quality management principles are defined in ISO 9000:2000, Quality management systems Fundamentals and vocabulary, and in ISO 9004:2000, Quality management systems Guidelines for performance improvements.

Principle 1: Customer focus Principle 2: Leadership Principle 3: Involvement of people Principle 4: Process approach Principle 5: System approach to management Principle 6: Continual improvement Principle 7: Factual approach to decision making Principle 8: Mutually beneficial supplier relationships

The ISO 14000 family addresses various aspects of environmental management. The very first two standards, ISO 14001:2004 and ISO 14004:2004 deal with environmental management systems (EMS). ISO 14001:2004 provides the requirements for an EMS and ISO 14004:2004 gives general EMS guidelines. The other standards and guidelines in the family address specific environmental aspects, including: labeling, performance evaluation, life cycle analysis, communication and auditing.

An EMS meeting the requirements of ISO 14001:2004 is a management tool enabling an organization of any size or type to: identify and control the environmental impact of its activities, products or services, and to improve its environmental performance continually, and to implement a systematic approach to setting environmental objectives and targets, to achieving these and to demonstrating that they have been achieved.

It does not specify levels of environmental performance. ISO has many other standards dealing with specific environmental issues. The intention of ISO 14001:2004 is to provide a framework for a holistic, strategic approach to the organization's environmental policy, plans and actions. It gives the generic requirements for an environmental management system. The underlying philosophy is that whatever the organization's activity, the requirements of an effective EMS are the same. This has the effect of establishing a common reference for communicating about environmental management issues between organizations and their customers, regulators, the public and other stakeholders. Thus the standard can to be implemented by a wide variety of organizations, whatever their current level of environmental maturity. However, a commitment to compliance with applicable environmental legislation and regulations is required, along with a commitment to continual improvement for which the EMS provides the framework.

ISO 14001:2004 is a tool that can be used to meet internal objectives: Provide assurance to management that it is in control of the organizational processes and activities having an impact on the environment Assure employees that they are working for an environmentally responsible organization.

Provide assurance on environmental issues to external stakeholders such as customers, the community and regulatory agencies Comply with environmental regulations Support the organization's claims and communication about its own environmental policies, plans and actions Provide a framework for demonstrating conformity via suppliers' declarations of conformity, assessment of conformity by an external stakeholder - such as a business client - and for certification of conformity by an independent certification body.

Most managers will try to avoid pollution that could cost the company a fine for infringing environmental legislation. But better managers will agree that doing only just enough to keep the company out of trouble with government inspectors is a rather weak and reactive approach to business in today's environment-conscious world. The standards are practical tools for the manager who is not satisfied with mere compliance with legislation which may be perceived as a cost of doing business. They are for the proactive manager with the vision to understand that implementing a strategic approach can bring return on investment in environment-related measures.

The systematic ISO 14001:2000 approach requires the organization to take a hard look at all areas where its activities have an environmental impact. And it can lead to benefits like the following: Reduced cost of waste management Savings in consumption of energy and materials Lower distribution costs Improved corporate image among regulators, customers and the public Framework for continual improvement of environmental performance.