QS9000 vs. Class A (lean) Manufacturing certification - What are the differences?

We are QS9000 certified, and working towards Class A (lean) Mfg certification. What I'd like to do is an assessment between the two and (1) show what the differences are, and (2) show what gaps need to be filled. Does anyone have any literture (or a web site) on class a lean mfg they can point me towards that will help me do this?

We are in a similar position (QS-9000 compliant, moving towards registration and have begun implementation of lean mfg. activities). I would be interested in finding out more about this Class A Lean Mfg. cert. (what are the requirements, is there a registration body, etc.). Let me know when you have further info.

Thanks;

Dom-

After my original post, I started asking some people in the plant what the source was for the assessment that was performed in our plant. Seems that Class A is an offshoot of MRPII. Oliver Wight put together a checklist that assessed a company for operational excellence with it's primary focus on use use and control of inventory and material (original edition and hence the tie-in to MRP). I got a copy of the Checklist (4th ed.) from Amazon books, which has a much broader perspecitve than the 1st ed.. I leafed through it briefly and it seems to have a real nice fit with QS9000. There are no differences in primary focus from what I see. The checklist covers strategic planning, people / team processes, total quality and continuous improvement processes, new product development, and planning and control processes, which all seem to tie in very nicely with QS9000. Granted a little bit more indepth analysis is required, but the for the most part, I like what I see. Will report on further developments as they occur.

[Andy Bassett]

Mike - All sounds very interesting. Could you be a little bit more specific about what the document is called (Does it have a ISBN number?).

Please keep us informed about how you progress with this.

BTW - Is this being pushed by anyone in particluar? ie your customers.

Its interesting to see that it is quite similar to QS9000. Is it my imagination or are all the various programmes and standards (ie Baldridge/Business Excellence/QS9000/IIP/ISO 9000:2000) converging into a very similar model?

Regards

------------------
Andy B

[This message has been edited by Andy Bassett (edited 10 August 2000).]