An Overview of ISO 9000 Standards

ISO 9000 Quality management system is defined by ISO (International Organization for Standardization). The series ISO 9000 includes – ISO 9000, ISO 9001, ISO 9004 and ISO 10011.

They (ISO 9000 standards), were originally written in 1987, and were further revised in 1994, 2000 and more recently in 2008, that’s why the standards are termed as ISO 9001:1994, ISO 9001:2000, ISO 9001:2008.

Initially ISO 9001:1994 were more focused on the product / service quality. With the revisions in 2000, the focus has shifted more on the process – by which the products are produced and the services are delivered. There has been a significant change in quality perception, it’s not the product that has to be controlled but it’s the process which has to be controlled. A good controlled process is bound to deliver a good quality service or product.


Let’s have an overview of the standards from the ISO family:

ISO 9000: It’s basically the fundamental and vocabulary part of the International Standards. It doesn’t contain the requirements or guidelines of the standards. It has the terminology defined, which is used throughout the ISO 9000 family. ISO 9000:2005 contains the definitions of the eight quality management principles. ISO 9000 series is based on those eight principles. They are also defined in ISO 9004:2000. So what are those eight quality management principles?

Well, here they are:
1). Customer Focus,
2), Leadership,
3). Involvement of people,
4), Process approach,
5). System approach to management,
6). Continual Improvement,
7). Factual Approach to decision making,
8). Mutually Beneficial Supplier relationships.


ISO 9001: This describes the requirements of the International standards. This can be used for internal purpose. This is the only standard that can be used for certification or contractual purpose. So, when we talk about that an XYZ organization is ISO certified, this means that XYZ is certified against ISO 9001 International Standard. This contains the requirements which an organization must fulfill in order to get certified.


ISO 9004: This standard contains the guidelines for performance improvement. It is intended for the internal usage. It focuses on the guidelines for the continual improvement in performance.


ISO 10011: This standard contains the guidelines for auditing the QMS and/ or EMS. (QMS – Quality management system, EMS – Environmental management system).