Story update 6/03/2011: The first two paragraphs following the subhead "ISO 22000 users" were changed.  

Today’s manufacturers must develop products quickly and inexpensively to meet the demands of a competitive marketplace. Rigorous testing to meet North American product certification requirements may prove to be a time-intensive process.

With all of the quality lingo over the years, “right-the-first-time,” “prevention vs.

Internal auditing, when effectively implemented, can arguably be considered the most important tool in the quality system tool box. It’s the primary method for continuously monitoring a company's quality management system (QMS).

The processes followed by most small- and medium-sized companies to prepare for or maintain an ISO 9001 registration have been largely manu

The ISO 9001 series of standards is the most widely used in the world and specifies requirements for an organization’s quality management system (QMS).

For 20 years, I have worked with many companies to achieve a variety of registrations. As a sales manager, auditor, consultant and trainer, I have noticed that a number of companies haven’t realized the benefits that they expected from standards registration.

For years, many companies have expended countless dollars and painful hours to comply with the various requirements of ISO 9001. Now, some of these companies are being asked to meet the provisions of Carnegie Mellon’s Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMi).