TABLE OF CONTENTS As we move into the next century, the terms quality assurance, quality management, and total quality control are becoming the new buzz words. Actually they are more than buzz words; they are reality for many American companies as well as foreign ones. The concept of total quality control (TQC) has been widely practiced in Japan for over a decade and is a way of life for Korean companies as well.
With the collapse of the Berlin Wall, the unification of Germany, the European Common Market, the dismantling of the Communist party, and Asian communities beginning to band together, one international quality assurance standard for all nations seems to be most practical. This chapter will discuss the latest requirements for these international standards.
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is a worldwide federation of national standards bodies (ISO member bodies) that is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) is the representative organization for the United States within the International Organization for Standardization federation. The purpose of the International Organization for Standardization is to develop internationally recognized standards to facilitate commerce worldwide and to enhance product safety.
The work of preparing international standards is normally carried out through ISO technical committees. Each member body or country interested in a subject for which a technical committee has been established has the right to be represented on the committee.
In 1979, Technical Committee 176, Quality Assurance, was formed and in 1985 the ISO...
