Registration involves the third-party assessment of this compliance and issuance of a certificate if compliance is indeed verified. While often not mandated, registration is popular because it represents a convenient way of proving that a company's quality system meets the standard. In general, the customer is not concerned with the identity of the company's manager or quality assurance manager, or whether the suppliers' employees have job descriptions. The rest of the standard, however, ensures that not only does the company identify and measure those processes for consistency, but is also learning, reviewing, correcting and controlling those processes. In order to secure the system's effectiveness, the company's management should be committed to the process.
Ample evidence exists showing that compliance with the standard is beneficial to any size company.
Compliance with the standard can be beneficial for small and large companies alike. ISO 9000 is a great catalyst to update quality processes and streamline the interface between the various activities in the organization. AlliedSignal Aerospace implemented the standard during a period of consolidation and reorganization. This assured that as expertise changed, the knowledge remained with the job. Understanding that registration is only one way to demonstrate compliance is important, and as applicable to small companies as to large ones.