In order to specify and set quality management into a frame, a technical committee of ISO, which is responsible for quality management and quality assurance, has created the 9000 standard. As generally referred to ISO 9000, the term means two items. One is the ISO 9000 family of standards, while the other is the ISO 9000:2015 standard, which defines the basics and the vocabulary of quality management (officially: ISO 9000:2015 Quality management systems — Fundamentals and vocabulary).

The scope of the ISO 9000:2015 international standard is to define and describe the fundamentals of the quality management systems, what can be applied in practice by a wide range of business entities, manufacturers, service providers, organizations in all sectors and industries. The standard also defines various basic terms, such as process, product, quality, capability, conformity, management, system, etc., and mentions the quality management principles. The actual version of the document consist of 30 pages, and does not contain industry-specific terms.

Using ISO 9000:2015 as a stand-alone document does not lead to success. To properly operate a quality management system, the whole set of standards (ISO 9000 family) should be used and implemented, extended by sector-specific standards or specifications (e.g. IATF 16949:2016 for the automotive industry).

ISO standards are reviewed every five years, the last re-examination and review of ISO 9000:2015 was performed in 2015.