Re: Product Realisation - 7.3 Design And Development Exemptions
Hi,
I am new to ISO 9001 but am working towards getting the small Registered Training Company that I work for certified. I am very confused as to what our product is. Is it the training itself?
And because we modify our training manuals from the training package.
Does that mean that we would be exempt from the following clauses.
7.3 Design And Development.
7.4.5 Verification of purchased product
and would product release and final inpsections apply to us?
Any help is greatly appreciated!
Kylie
Welcome to The Cove, Kylie. We hope you find the answer to your questions here. As for your situation, it is unfortunate that someone admittedly without experience in ISO 9001 is "made responsible" for leading a training organization certified to ISO 9001.
I am glad you started with a fundamental question: what is your product? Without clearly understanding what your product is, one can not move forward with the identification of the business processes that impact customer satisfaction.
Yes, your product IS the training being provided. In order for that training to satisfy customer, MANY components have to work together. Some aspects of the service delivery are intangible, such as training facility comfort and ambiance, the instructor demeanor, the ease of enrolling in the class, etc. Other aspects of the training delivery are very tangible, such as the quality of the handouts and manuals, the food being served (if any), the ergonomic aspects of the furniture being used by attendees, etc. The training organization might have control and/or influence over these aspects. Left to chance, I am sure, many attendees will have negative experiences.
In my opinion, you as the training provider have full latitude to design how the service will be delivered, executed, etc. Just because service design is different from a (tangible hardware) product design, it should not be neglected. Some "adaptation" will be necessary for the service design, but it should not be ignored, much less excluded from your business processes.
As for product release, I am sure the training material must be reviewed and approved. Very likely, it will be revised from time to time. That is a form of product release. Also, shipping the material to the training facility should be preceded with some type of check to ensure that all the required material is being shipped. This is also product release verification.
As for "final inspection", some of us believe that training is one of those processes which can not be readily verified upon delivery, so it could be understood as a process that needs validation, including the instructor's qualification to deliver the course.
Good luck to you.
Thank you so much for taking the time to reply.
