Conformity assessment is good for many things. It builds consumer confidence by ensuring the consistency and value of our products, it strengthens the ties of the international business community, and it agrees upon many standards that promote our well being. International standardization also in most cases inspires technological innovation. Additionally, it has also been observed to foster a meaningful sense of competition among businesses.
Will there be a time when all businesses in a particular region and industry are certified by the International Organization for Standardization? This may very well be quite possible in the near future if it has not already come to fruition. This is a scenario that may seem difficult at face value for businesses who sought an edge by registering as ISO certified. If every business is ISO certified then how are businesses to guarantee an edge? The answer is simple: compete.
If all businesses in a region are ISO certified then the quality of life at this place must be certifiably above average. Through standardization businesses are efficient, safe, and ranked very highly in the quality of their products. Some would suggest that this is an ideal, while others would content that this should be the bare minimum of our expectations. Once all the businesses in a region are able to maintain these minimal expectations, they can then start to really compete in a way that will only leave untouched the most important fundamentals such as those attached to our standards with regard to factors such as quality and safety. This is what we would like to call as a meaningful sense of competition in contrast to the kind of competition that sacrifices what we value most about our goods and services.
Hopefully, ISO standards are able to improve our future in such a meaningful way. It would be a great environment if businesses were able to thrive and excel beyond basic standards in order to remain rightly competitive.
