ISO 9000 prescribes a framework for quality

All over the world, electrotechnical companies are facing increasing competition in the marketplace. The key to success is higher quality products and services, and many companies are adopting the ISO 9000 series of international quality standards. In the electronics and power industries, suppliers such as Philips, IBM, Siemens, ABB and HP have already implemented the standards in most of their development sites. Recently, the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) notified its software development contractors that ISO 9000 certification will provide them with a substantial competitive edge in winning new contracts. This article describes how ISO 9000 software processes were implemented at the Cadence India Engineering Center and defines the benefits gained by the company from the perspectives of its management, employees and customers. Benefits of well-defined processes in term of quality and cycle-time are very apparent and process maturity is a key to achieving positive cultural change.