Does becoming certified to ISO-9000 improve the quality of your product?
I am currently writing a Dissertation on this subject to obtain my Ph.D. in Engineering Management. I am looking for both qualitative and quantitative information regarding this subject. I have conducted several interviews, but am having a hard time getting the quantitative results. Companys don't seem to have these results. I would like to see a DPM before ISO cert, and then a DPM after ISO cert. Reject/Rework rates would work as well. ANY data would help!!!
Thanks in advance for your replies!
Kerry Hannify

Does becoming certified to ISO-9000 improve the quality of your product?
I am currently writing a Dissertation on this subject to obtain my PHd in Engineering Management. I am looking for both qualitative and quantitative information regarding this subject. I have conducted several interviews, but am having a hard time getting the quantitative results. Companys don't seem to have these results. I would like to see a DPM before ISO cert, and then a DPM after ISO cert. Reject/Rework rates would work as well. ANY data would help!!!
Thanks in advance for your replies!
Kerry Hannify
You might want to have a look at this thread (http://elsmar.com/Forums/showthread.php?t=11755). I don't know of any reliable data that show a causal link between ISO registration and quality improvement. Look here at Google Scholar (http://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=iso+9000&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en) for more research. In cases where there appears to be positive correlation, it usually turns out that ISO registration is a result of a general movement towards quality improvement rather than the cause of it. You also needd to be very careful about how metrics are defined. "DPM" has almost as many definitions as there are people calculating it.
Also, just as an aside, the abbreviation is "Ph.D."

JSW is right, Coorelation DOES NOT necessarily equal causation.

What might be another way of attacking the problem is to see if there is a way to discern, within a certain industry, where a great percentage of the companies have a common facet of the requirements of the standard that is missing or is poorly developed. Then, what happens to the companies that improve that area, ignoring if they actually register or not?

I know, easier said than done.