A set of international
standards for both quality management
and quality assurance that has been adopted by over 90
countries worldwide. The ISO 9000 standards apply to all
types of organisations, large and small, and in many
industries.
The standards require: standard language for documenting
quality processes; system to manage evidence that these
practices are instituted throughout an organisation; and
third-party auditing to review, certify, and maintain
certification of organisations. The ISO 9000 series
classifies products into generic product categories: hardware,
software, processed materials, and services.
Documentation is at the core of ISO 9000 conformance. In fact,
the standards have been paraphrased as:
"Say what you do. Do what you say. Write it down."
In Britain it is associated with BS5750 which may become
obsolete.
["The ISO 9000 Guide," c. 1993 Interleaf, Inc].
(1995-01-30)