What is ISO 9001 and How Does It Apply to Sea Link International?

What is ISO?

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is a worldwide federation of national standards' bodies from some 140 countries, one from each country.

ISO is a non-governmental organization established in 1947. The mission of ISO is to promote the development of standardization and related activities in the world with a view to facilitating the international exchange of goods and services, and to developing cooperation in the spheres of intellectual, scientific, technological and economic activity.

ISO's work results in international agreements, which are published as International Standards.

When you adopt ISO 9001:2000, you must strive for the satisfaction of your customers and the continual improvement of your quality management system. Continual improvement is a process of increasing the effectiveness of your organization to fulfill your quality policy and your quality objectives.

ISO 9001:2000 requires that you plan and manage the processes necessary for the continual improvement of your quality management system. ISO 9004:2000 provides information that will be helpful in going beyond ISO 9001:2000 to improving the efficiency of your operation. It is recommended that you obtain data from various sources, both internal and external, to assess the appropriateness of your quality system goals. This information can also be used to improve the performance of your processes.

Maintaining the benefits and continual improvement

Most new users obtain measurable benefits early in the process of deploying the standard requirements in their operations. These initial benefits are generally due to improvements in their organization and internal communication. The benefits must be strengthened through effective internal auditing and management review of system performance. Like all systems, it either improves or becomes less effective. It does not remain static for long.

ISO's Name

Many people will have noticed a seeming lack of correspondence between the official title when used in full, International Organization for Standardization, and the short form, ISO. Shouldn't the acronym be "IOS"? Yes, if it were an acronym - which it is not.

In fact, "ISO" is a word, derived from the Greek isos, meaning "equal", which is the root of the prefix "iso-" that occurs in a host of terms, such as "isometric" (of equal measure or dimensions) and "isonomy" (equality of laws, or of people before the law).

From "equal" to "standard", the line of thinking that led to the choice of "ISO" as the name of the organization is easy to follow. In addition, 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" into the different national languages of members, e.g. IOS in English, OIN in French (from Organisation internationale de normalisation). Whatever the country, the short form of the Organization's name is always ISO.

How are ISO standards developed?

ISO standards are developed according to the following principles:

• Consensus
  The views of all interests are taken into account: manufacturers, vendors and users, consumer groups, testing laboratories, governments, engineering professions and research organizations.

• Industry-wide
  Global solutions to satisfy industries and customers worldwide.

• Voluntary
  International standardization is market-driven and therefore based on voluntary involvement of all interests in the market-place.

Who does the work?

The technical work of ISO is highly decentralized, carried out in a hierarchy of some 2,850 technical committees, subcommittees and working groups. In these committees, qualified representatives of industry, research institutes, government authorities, consumer bodies, and international organizations from all over the world come together as equal partners in the resolution of global standardization problems. Some 30,000 experts participate in meetings each year.