A New StandardFinished sweating through your ISO 9000 certification? Time to think about ISO 14001.
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In 1998, SWD Inc. was one of the first U.S. companies to boastcertification under the ISO 14001 environmental standard. With itsautomotive customers asking the 105-person Addison, Illinois,metal-finishing company to follow ISO 9000 quality standards, thethen-new environmental certificate looked like the natural nextstep. "Because of the industry we're in, we have to dealwith environmental laws on a continuing basis anyway," saysvice president Tim Delawder, 35, whose father started SWD in1980.
Today, more than 1,500 U.S. firms are under the ISO 14001banner. While they make up a tiny fraction of American businesses,the number was up 23 percent during 2001. That doesn't rivalEurope and Asia, however. The roster of 14001-certified Japanesecompanies was up 50 percent in 2001 to nearly 8,000.
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