ABSTRACT
Organizations that are very large or ones with complicated processes do not function well without first implementingmanagement systems (MS), although theymay be called by some other name. Food companies are no exception, and have been operating management systems of their own for many years. One type of MS is provided by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). ISO’s management systems consist of widespread, voluntary, technical standards that have become very popular in making the successful practices of MS available to all types of organizations. ISO 9000 is a family of standards on generic management systems that states the requirements an organization must follow to manage processes (not products, or not directly) that influence quality. Needless to say, the way an organization manages its processes is obviously going to affect the final product. In the case of ISO 9000, this will affect whether everything has been done to ensure the product meets the customer’s requirements. ISO 9000 is primarily concerned with ‘‘quality management.’’ As stated by ISO, like ‘‘beauty,’’ everyonemay have his or her idea of what ‘‘quality’’ is. The standardized definition of ‘‘quality’’ in ISO 9000 refers to all such features of a product (or service) required by the customer. Thus, ‘‘quality management’’ comprises what the organization does to enhance customer satisfaction by meeting customer and applicable regulatory requirements, thus continually improving its performance in this regard (ISO 2002a,b).
