There are numerous educational institutions registered to ISO 9001. BTW - yes, ISO 900
1. There is no getting away from the fact that courses are designed.
While I know the paradigm has not been to address design in a service operation, I believe the 2000 version will make this less common. And I agree. Services are designed. See
http://Elsmar.com/ubb/Forum2/HTML/000180.html for some discussion on design in service industries.
If you want to get to some specific questions, I'll be happy to gve my 2 cents worth.
-> The model ISO 9000 is built around is linear, serial:
-> input ==> process ==> output.
This appears linear, but it really isn't if you look at the whole thing. There are feedback loops both internally and externally. See
http://Elsmar.com/Imp/sld033.htm . Both internal and external, as well as long and short term, feedback is part of the play. Like a lot of ISO 9K, the input ==> process ==> output is a simplification. Seems to me that for a company it is mostly a matter of whether (and how much or how far they do this) or not you obtain and react to feedback (stimuli).
-> the object of your process in unchanged apart from what
-> your process does to it
I'm not sure I agree. The object of the process often evolves in response to feedback - both internal and external.
-> Some insightful individual with web pages devoted to
-> Quality (can't recall who, sorry) suggests reading the
-> text of the standard 10 times in a week, not more than
-> twice in any one day, to get a sense of what it says,
-> before trying to interpret how it applies to what you are
-> doing.
I sure agree with this. This is, in fact, where the value of a 'good' consultant comes into play - one can shorten the process. If you buy a guitar and twice a day every day you practice with a 'How To Play Guitar' book at your side you will eventually succeed in playing that guitar. A guitar teacher (consultant) can help shorten that time. But - the bottom line is this is not rocket science!
-> Make the standard work for you, don't let it make you
-> work for it.
Yes.