You may think you're covered.

Having good quality may not be enough anymore.

It's too late now to debate whether ISO 9000 is a good thing for plastics processors. Two years ago, if you thought you had good quality management - and you weren't interested in exporting to Europe - you might have questioned the value of spending time and money to meet "foreign" quality standards. Since then, ISO 9000 has been adopted by American industry at such a rate that it has become a required ticket of admission to key domestic markets.

Take automotive: Detroit's Big Three car makers embraced ISO 9000 in September 1994 when they jointly adopted QS-9000 quality standards as a replacement for their individual quality systems. The core of QS-9000 is ISO 9001, though it also includes supplemental requirements. By next year, all first- or second-tier suppliers to Chrysler and GM worldwide must obtain third-party certification for QS-9000. (Ford has not yet set such a deadline.)

Another standard, called TE-9000, is expected to be ratified by the Big Three this month. Basically similar to QS-9000, it will apply to all first- or second-tier tooling and equipment suppliers, according to sources at ISO consultant Perry Johnson Inc. in Southfield, Mich.

ISO 9000 is now also a fact of life for suppliers to the U.S. Dept. of Defense. As of this past October, all DOD suppliers must comply with ISO 9001 or 9002, which replaces the former MIL-Q-9858A. And in the medical-devices industry, the FDA has adopted a new standard, ISO 13485, which incorporates ISO 9001. It will be part of the agency's upcoming "good manufacturing practices" (GMP) document, according to Perry Johnson sources.

Regardless of what market they serve, plastics processors that ignore ISO 9000 could be more vulnerable to product-liability lawsuits, according to attorney Sheila A. Millar, legal counsel for the Plastics Industry Risk Retention Group of Sarasota, Fla., an insurer owned by 23 plastics companies. In a briefing paper, she notes that ISO 9000 standards "could affect a company's liability exposure if those standards become recognized as the generally accepted standard of care." In the event of a suit, "Failure to meet a relevant standard, even where compliance is not mandated, may be evidence of negligence," she says.

Processors today - even those with good quality programs - may have only one prudent choice: Comply with ISO 9000 even if you don't seek registration immediately. That way, you could always get registered on short notice if market conditions require it.