Some experts could barely hide their disappointment when the total number of ISO 9001 certificates recently failed to break the long-awaited million-certificate mark—as if it isn’t enough to have the world’s most widely used voluntary quality standard of all time.

With 982,832 third-party certificates issued in 176 countries and economies as of December 2008—the latest year for which figures are available—“around” one million certified users may very well be good enough.

The total still represents an overall increase of 31,346 certificates compared to the 2007 year-end total of 951,486 certificates that were issued in 175 countries and economies, according to data collected on behalf of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

But the larger questions that industry has been struggling with for some time is how many of these certifications have been performed in a way that brings value to the end-user—namely you and me? Can a certified firm ship nonconforming, or substandard, products at times still hold onto their certificates?

How good is good enough?

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