The new edition of ISO 9000 has been hailed as a big improvement on the 1994 version. The revision has created a standard that is far more relevant for SMEs. Ray Tricker, Md of Herne European Consultancy Ltd, examines how good it really is for the smaller organization.When ISO 9000 was first released in 1987, it was considered to be largely incomplete, requiring auditors to full in the gaps. Although it was still heavily biased towards large manufacturing businesses, the 1994 version got rid of many of the original problems. Unfortunately it still meant that an organisation could conform to the standard while producing substandard products. It was possible to comply with the requirements of ISO 9000:1994 without having to improve the quality of a product. Without doubt, ISO 9001:2000 represents a vast improvement, but is it any better for the SME?
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