s apply uniformly to companies in any industry and of any size.Since it is important many companies require their suppliers to become registered to ISO 9001. Because of this, registered companies find that their market opportunities have increased. In addition, a company's compliance with ISO 9001 insures that it has a sound Quality Assurance system, and that is good business. Registered companies have had dramatic reductions in customer complaints, significant reductions in operating costs and increased demand for their products and services. ISO 9000 registration is rapidly becoming a must for any company that does business in Europe. Many industrial companies require registration by their own suppliers. There is a growing trend toward universal acceptance of ISO 9000 as an international standard. In 1994, US automakers issued a new, cooperative set of quality standards for their suppliers: QS-9000. The new standards, which are based on ISO 9000, are specific to the auto industry and are more rigorous in their demands. Chrysler and GM, state in the guidelines, that in order to show QS-9000 compliance that an audit of your quality systems using an accredited, third-party registrar is required. Ford will accept such registration but has not yet mandated it. QS-9000 registrars must be accredited by an organization recognized by the US automakers. ISO 14001, created by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), is a standard designed to produce globally accepted systems for environmental management. It is a voluntary program similar to ISO 9000 (a series of standards developed in the 1980s to assist in implementing a quality management system). Adherence to the ISO 14001 standard ensures that systems are in place to identify a facility’s impacts on the environment and to minimize these impacts when feasible. It measures the conformance of a facility’s EMS to specific requirements, but remains flexible enough...
