The company i work for is a research organisation and just about everything we do is dictated by an ISO or EN standard. About a year ago i was given the awful task of implementing ISO 9001 which is basically just a quality system for manufacturing and it's an absolute nightmare creating paperwork just for the sake of it.
Also i have just as many problems (if not more) with my suppliers that have ISO 9001 accreditation as the suppliers that aren't accredited. All it means is there balls ups are traceable and they have measures in place to try to minimise the fuck ups that they make. In my opinion all manufacturers/suppliers should be producing/supplying with customer care and quality in mind regardless of whether they have a nice little certificate hanging in reception stating that they are. If my suppliers produce shit they don't get anymore orders regardless of how many certificates are weighing down their walls.