The ISO 9000 family of standards, that describe quality management system model, are designed to help organizations ensure they meet the needs of customers and other stakeholders. This family of standards was developed by ISO, the International Organization for Standardization, Committee. Currently there are national analogues, for instance GOST R standards in Russia. ISO 9000 determines the fundamentals of quality management systems, including eight quality management principles which form the base for quality management system standards, part of ISO 9000 family of standards. ISO 9001 contains a set of requirements for organizations’ quality management systems. Independent confirmation of organization’s quality management system compliance with the requirements of ISO 9001 may be obtained from third party certification bodies. Over a million organizations worldwide have certified quality management systems, using ISO 9001 standard as one of the most widely used tools for developing an efficient management system. ISO 9001 determines the requirements for quality management systems that an organization shall fulfill to demonstrate its ability to provide products, compliant with customer requirements and applicable statutory requirements. Organizations seeking recognition of their quality management system can use this standard for certification and for fulfillment of their contractual obligations. ISO 9001 requirements are general and universal and therefore can be applied to any business.
The ISO 9000 series of standards generalizes world experience of organization of works on efficient quality management system development. This family of standards consists of standards and guidelines describing quality management systems model. ISO 9001, new version of which was published in 2008, sets the requirements for quality management system, which apply to all organizations, regardless of their activity, size, geographical location and belonging to public sector. ISO 9001 is the only standard in the family against compliance to the requirements of which organization’s quality management system can be certified. Although quality management system certification is voluntary, such certification provides an independent assessment of quality management system effectiveness.
The ISO 9000 family of standards helps organizations improve customer satisfaction and continually improve quality management system through internal audits and management reviews. The ISO 9000 series of standards includes:

• ISO 9000 – Fundamentals and Vocabulary. The standard is designed to set generalized understanding of the terms and definitions, used in ISO 9000 series of standards.


• ISO 9001 – Requirements. The standard determines requirements which organizations’ quality management systems shall meet.


• ISO 9004 – Guidelines for performance improvement. The standard contains guidelines, based upon the eight quality management principles, which were designed for managers to improve organizations’ performance and meet the requirements of all stakeholders.