1991 FIN – ISO 9000 Increasingly Important to Exporters
November 12, 1991 FIN – If you are exporting fasteners, you should be aware of ISO 9000 quality control manufacturing guidelines.
“Companies in the European Community (EC) and the far eastern community are increasingly requiring that U.S. manufactured goods be registered as having being made under ISO 9000 guidelines, and are beginning to refuse to accept goods that are not made under those guidelines,” FIN was told by John Cole, head of Kyowa USA (Rocky Hill, Ohio), whose parent firm (a Japanese producer of fasteners) has won the Deming prize.
“ISO 9000, although only an international Q.C. guideline and not having the formal force of a law, will begin to have the same effect commercially for U.S. exporters as the Public Law 101-592 Fastener Quality Act does in the U.S.,” Cole added.
Some background on ISO 9000: the ISO 9000 Series was written by International Organization for Standardization, which is an international agency comprised of national standards bodies of 91 countries. The U.S. representative to ISO is the American National Standards Institute.
ISO 9000 is actually a guidebook to four other more specific standards in the series, ISO 9001, ISO 9002, ISO 9003, and ISO 9004.
Registration to ISO standards means than an accredited independent third party conducts an on-site audit of a manufacturer’s operations against the requirements of a particular ISO standard. ISO 9001 is the most stringent of the standards in the series.
Once received, the ISO registration can be publicized in advertising and letterheads but not on the product itself. To maintain ISO registration, there is a periodic checkup by a third party registrar, and a complete re-audit required every three to four years. There is also a published register of firms meeting ISO standards.
Additional information on ISO 9000 is available from ANSI, or by purchasing the individual ISO standards from ANSI.. The ISO 9000 Compendium, a more complete publication which includes the ISO standards and additional related standards information, is also available from ANSI, for $80.
In 1987, the United States adopted the ISO 9000 Series word-for-word as the ANSI/ASQC Q90 – 94 Series. These standards, which are identical to the ones available from ANSI, can be ordered from the American Society for Quality Control. Also available from ASQC is a helpful brochure that “answers the most frequently asked questions about the ISO 9000 series.”
The ISO 9000 series, started in 1987, will begin its five-year periodic review and revision cycle next year. ©1991/2010 Fastener Industry News
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