ABSTRACT
The International Standardization Organization (ISO)-9000 quality management standard is the document around which modern quality is managed (ISO 1994a, b; ISO 2000). It is an evolving document first issued in 1990, with a version 2000 now available. ISO-9000 contains the ruling system for the management of quality in all countries that need to trade with the European Economic Community. ISO-9000 provides the set of priorities by which quality is managed, and is arranged by topics and subtopics. In this text the 1990 version will be studied first, then its evolution will be traced. The inspection technologist (nondestructive testing [NDT] expert) should become familiar with the quality standard. The first few topics are the most important, but the remainder should also be studied. The 1990 document comes in three versions, 9001, 9002, and 9003, for companies with progressively less involvement in the high-tech aspects of a business. ISO-9001 covers design and development functions as well as production and all the rest, while 9002 does not include design and development. Many companies produce a product from the designs of others, so a lower tier of documentation is useful to them.
