I have seen on some boxes of small parts (wire nuts, crimps, etc) that they are "ISO 9001" certified. What does this mean? Is it another testing authority? (The parts were also UL Listed)
tia
Drew

This is a standard for how the manufacturing plant is managed. It typically involves setting up writtem policy and procedure manuals for absolutely everything the manufacturing plant does. It's about creating a workplace where each job is so clearly defined and so well organized that a monkey could replace anyone in the plant and there would be no change in operations. It's supposed to make sure that the quailty of the widget being made is more consistant.

Alot of big companies require that their suppliers be ISO certified because it makes them feel that they'll get a more consistant quality product.

A friend of mine owns a small machine shop that makes parts for the used autopart remanufacturing industry. The Big auto makers are ISO certifed and as part of the certification, they are required to use ISO certified suppliers. So the used parts remanufacturers who do business with the Auto makers must also be certified. And to be certified they must use certified suppliers. So my friend's little machine shop has to go through the whole process of labeling tools, writing manuals, creating work flow diagrams and organizational charts, and lots of other stuff so he and two other employees can continue to do what they've done for 30 years.

Maintenance guy is right on the mark. ISO 9001 means nothing on a product. You can make any junk in an ISO 9001 organisation. It is a "quality" control tool, for use within companies and when marketing the company itself.

So I guess it's of no real concern to me then. Thanks for the answers

Dear all!

ISO 9001, 9002 etc are EU quality standards, as DIN, etc.
You have to have an audit process which confirms that your company's work fits the requirements of ISO standard.
http://www.iso.org/iso/en/ISOOnline.frontpage

Edited for link

[This message has been edited by Gloria (edited 12-28-2004).]

Sounds like an expensive club. Then again we're use to the pay-to-play thing here in Jersey!

Gloria, yes, but it concerns only the organisation itself. The idea is that it helps the company to find out where things have gone wrong if the quality of the products isn't what the company wants. This in effect means finding the source of mistakes.

This is great if you want it to be, but the manufacturer can still choose to use substandard materials and make poor quality light switches. The proof is in the pudding

ISO is nothing more then "SAY WHAT YOU DO, AND DO WHAT YOU SAY YOU'LL DO".

ISO was adopted here in the states for those companies who do business abroad in the UK.
ISO = International Standards Organizion.

It is also a way to CYA, with a paper trail. It does get very detailed at times. You'll only find this at the upper end of the spectrum not at the local level where you're a 1-2 man operation working a service truck. Mostly you're manufacturing companies will have an ISO cert. and as Gloria stated they are audited to make sure they are "DOING WHAT THEY SAID THEY WERE GOING TO DO".

From comments I've read regarding ISO9001 over the last few years, it's really just another of the many completely worthless schemes to make it appear that something useful is being achieved.

As others have said, it has absolutely nothing to do with the quality of products. You could be marketing the world's most unreliable, dangerous item, yet still be accredited to ISO 9001 so long as the operational procedures met the requirements.

The biggest mystery is why so many companies have fallen for this worthless garbage and gotten involved with it at all.



[This message has been edited by pauluk (edited 12-28-2004).]