wire10ga wrote:ISO 9001 certified is a joke.
I couldn't agree more, but at the same time couldn't agree less.
Yes it's a joke, in that it makes sure that you have documented processes, and that you follow those documented processes, not necessarily that those documented processes actually make any sense. -but then who will audit whether the process makes sense, you are supposed to know your business, an auditor might audit an aerospace manufacturer one day and a software firm the next. -they can't be experts and analysts in all areas of all industries.
ISO9001 does not mean that you're the best company, it doesn't mean you have the best product, it doesn't mean you have the best process. it means that your output will be either reliably good, or reliably shit. it's about consistency. you can be assured that the level of quality (or lack thereof) seen in one product or service will be reflected in the next.
The real joke is the firms that was ISO certified suppliers, but then never check out the process documentation. (which is what allows people to use it as just a sales tool, because it's never checked)
of course, the flip side is where your customers do check and approve process, then you can't find a slightly better more efficient way and change the process, but that's because you allowed a customer to dictate your work process, not because of ISO9001, or you're too scared to go to your supplier and say, we've grown as a company and this is our new process, please check and sign off.
in some ways it's entirely possible that the last step of manufacture could be "beat the crap out of part with a hammer" the It's still a process, it's documented and would pass iso9001, the fact that it's a stupid process isn't the point.
perhaps I should have qualified what I said with, go see a firm who are doing things right and using iso9001.
it can and does work well in lots of places.
Common sense is a lot more efficient than ISO 9001 will ever be!
doh!
Iso9001 isn't meant to replace common sense. You should use the common sense to write the processes.
It's not a magic fix for crap processes, it's a way of making sure that processes are followed -it's a QA process.
It assures quality by making sure that once you've found the way to churn out a reliable and quality part or service that you write down how you did that and then follow that recipe for success. Churning out the same standard of work each time.
the example I gave before is probably the best example of a process. there are two ways that you can send out replacement parts.
answer query
promise parts
pack parts
ship parts
change stock levels
or
answer query
change stock level
promise parts
pack parts
ship parts.
you might think that the first one is common sense you might not
truthfully it would actually slow down the work flow a little bit. because now, before you can reply to the email or skype conversation to the customer you now need to fire up a different program and adjust stock levels first before you can make promises...
So you might say that this process gets in the way of work and slows productivity.
but with the example I said before, the 30 seconds extra time taken with this process ensures a reliable and consistent service for all, with no broken promises, no failed deadlines, no expectations set that can't be met etc.
Hopefully you offset that 30 seconds of extra time in the process with the now zero time you have to spend responding to complaints about shop status, shipping times broken promises, refunding shipping fees etc...
Following the process will create a quality of service, not following the process would allow a chance that your service will slip to a sub par level.
-then you have to refund express shipping charges, then you're making a loss on that shipping cost.
Basically, the problem with common sense is that it isn't all that common.
Which is why it's often a good idea to write common sense down.
