scope:

Foreword

Successful organizations in today's business environment focus on doing the right things the first time, on time, every' time, and always to the customer's satisfaction. Achieving this focus, while building a lasting foundation for improving business operating systems, is easier said than done. Many organizations have found that the ISO 9000 series of Standards provides a starting point and some important milestones on this path. The ISO 9000 series addresses those areas of quality management that arc essential to winning (and keeping) customer's confidence in an organization's capability to consistently provide quality products and services.

Since their introduction in 1987, the ISO 9000 series have become a major element of supplier management strategy for many multinational corporations, and are fast becoming the central regulatory approach for many jurisdictions. Whether "stakeholder" motivated, or "management" motivated, meeting or exceeding the requirements of ISO 9000 is becoming an essential competitive strategy for all businesses.