ISO 9000 Series provides general quality assurance guidelines as well as quality system models that can be used by any type or size of company anywhere in the world.

ISO 14000 is the internationally recognized standard for Environmental Management Systems (EMS). CertifiGroup will help you achieve the standard and enhance your organization's competitive advantage and reputation. Registration can: Demonstrate high environmental standards; Demonstrate compliance with legislation; Reduce costs to Improve efficiency.

AS9100 is the aerospace industry harmonized standard for quality systems for quality assurance in design, development, production, installation and servicing. AS9100 standardizes the quality management system requirements for the aerospace industry. The purpose and objectives of AS9100 is to: provide increased consistency in the expectations of the industry, reduce verification requirements, methods and audits; Improve quality and safety, and decrease costs and waste.

QS-9000 requirements were developed by the Chrysler/Ford/General Motors Supplier Quality Requirements Task Force. This task force developed QS-9000 by analyzing requirements originally found in: Ford's Q-101 Quality System Standard; General Motors' North American Operations Targets for Excellence and Europe's General Quality Standard for Purchased Materials; and Chrysler's Supplier Quality Assurance Manual. In essence, QS-9000 defines the fundamental quality expectations of Chrysler, Ford, General Motors, truck manufacturers and other subscribing companies.

TL 9000 requirements were developed by the QuEST forum (The Quality Excellence for Suppliers of Telecommunications Leadership), comprised of leaders in the telecommunications field. The QuEST forum used ISO 9000 as a baseline and the requirements of existing industry standards and practices in developing the TL 9000 requirements. The development of sector-specific requirements for hardware, software and services quality systems and metrics requirements is an essential part of TL 9000. The three registration options (or any combination) being offered are as follows: TL 9000 - H (Hardware quality system requirements and metrics); TL 9000 - S (Software quality system requirements and metrics); TL 9000 - V (Services quality system requirements and metrics).

ISO 13485 is the international standard for quality management systems for medical devices. It specifies requirements for a quality management system where an organization needs to demonstrate its ability to provide medical devices and related services that consistently meet customer and regulatory requirements. It includes requirements for design, development, production, installation and servicing of medical devices, and the design, development and provision of related services.

ISO/TS 16949 used the ISO 9001 Standard as the basis for their development and included the requirements from these Standards with specific 'adders' for the automotive supply chain. The 2002 revision of TS builds off the ISO9001:2000 document. The basis for certification audits for ISO/TS 16949 include the standard itself, customer specific requirements and the organization's quality system.

RC 14001 is a Technical Specification of the American Chemistry Council (formerly the Chemical Manufacturers Association - CMA.) The ACC has adapted their long standing Responsible Care Program to incorporate all ISO 14001 Standard requirements. This is applied to both environmental and health and safety management systems including key concepts of the original Responsible Care Program such as community outreach and distribution.

OHSAS 18001. The Occupational Health and Safety Assessment System 18001, is a standard developed by a number of countries to address health and safety issues. It is loosely based on the ISO 14001:1996 Environmental Management System standard and contains many clauses using the exact same language. While this may be considered an international standard, it is not an ISO standard. However, health and safety is just more than just implementing a "System." The three most common reasons cited for OHS registration are: competitive market advantage; protecting your most valuable resource, the employees; and cost or risk reduction through improved OHS Performance.

ISO and ISO Standards
To learn about the International Organization for Standardization, and to order ISO Standards, go to the ISO Website:
http://www.iso.org/iso/en/ISOOnline.frontpage