ISO 9000 provides the fundamental concepts, principles and vocabulary for quality management systems (QMS) and provides the foundation for other QMS standards. It helps the user to understand the fundamental concepts, principles and vocabulary to implement a quality management system. It applies to all organizations, regardless of size, complexity or business model.
The purpose of the standard is to increase an organization’s awareness of its duties and commitment to fulfilling the needs and expectations of its customers and interested parties, and in achieving satisfaction with its products and services.
ISO 9000 contains seven quality management principles supporting the fundamental concepts. For each quality management principle, there is:
— a statement describing each principle,
— rationale explaining why the organization would address the principle,
— key benefits that are attributed to the principles,
— possible actions that an organization can take in applying the principle.
ISO 9000 contains the terms and definitions that apply to all quality management standards.
The international standard has been approved in Europe as EN ISO 9000:2015 without any changes and it supersedes EN ISO 9000:2005.
