Is the ISO TC176 fulfilling its Vision & Mission?

[Sidney Vianna]

I am interested to know if anybody would have any constructive feedback to the ISO TC 176, in terms of fulfilling their Vision and Mission? It is very easy for us (myself included) to criticize their work, but do you think the Technical Committee 176 is delivering as intended?

The vision of ISO/TC 176 is that, through its worldwide acceptance and use, the ISO 9000 family of standards will provide an effective means for improving the performance of individual organizations and providing confidence to people and organizations that products (goods and services) will meet their expectations thereby enhancing trade, global prosperity and individual well-being.

ISO/TC 176's mission is to:

• identify and understand user needs in the field of quality management;
• develop standards that respond effectively to the expectations of users;
• support implementation of these standards; and
• facilitate meaningful evaluation of the resulting implementations using the ISO process to achieve international consensus and compatibility with other ISO/IEC management standards.

The ISO/TC 176 Key Strategies to achieve this vision and mission are:

1. Provide for a clear understanding of the role of quality in relation to the management (leading and operating) of an organization and the application of related concepts and principles.
2. Minimize proliferation of standards within the ISO 9000 family.
3. Work towards minimizing the proliferation of standards in the field of quality management developed externally to TC 176 using a joint and cooperative approach with the ISO/IEC TCs and other bodies involved.
4. Ensure the integrity of the ISO 9000 family of standards and provide for the integrity of their implementation and of the evaluation of their implementation.
5. Maximize usefulness of the ISO 9000 family of standards, facilitating effective implementation together with other ISO/IEC management system standards, using a joint and cooperative approach with the other TCs involved.

 

[AndyN]

Re: Is the ISO TC176 fulfilling it's Vision & Mission?

Sidney:
An interesting proposition.

From the point of authoring the largest usage ISO standard, they have done a good job. From the point of reducing proliferation of ISO 9000 based standards, I'm not certain that's actually possible and, as a result, they should probably re-evaluate if it's an appropriate part of the (original) mission.

From my perspective, there's way too much emphasis placed only on auditing - accredited courses for auditors, ISO 19011 etc. If the TC is supposed to support implementation there's not much of real substance in other areas. A couple of low key guidance documents from sub-committees is all.

I believe there should be more guidance on implementation - like who and what is the Management Rep's role. From the posts here it ranges from being a 'cheer leader' to being a strategic quality specialist and just about everything in between, at all levels. Same for many other key requirements which make for effective implementation. Clearly some form of guidance is required. Shouldn't that be their role to lead in such areas?

 

[qualitymanager]

Re: Is the ISO TC176 fulfilling it's Vision & Mission?

Hi all,

I venture to disagree that 'minimize' has the same meaning as 'reduce' in this context.

As for the Management Rep - ISO 10018 WD3 (Second Draft) has the following recommendations:

"-Top Management are ultimately responsible for the effectiveness of the quality management system.

-There should be guidance on competence criteria for a management representative and their responsibilities should be added to the job description with a % figure for time commitment.

-The responsibility as management representative should not be delegated to a junior level in the organization. (check new standard)

-In larger organisations, there should be a quality representative in each dept forming a cross functional team"

If you wish to contribute to developing the standard, you can contact the representative on TC176 from your country and they will advise you from there.

 

[Sidney Vianna]

Re: Is the ISO TC176 fulfilling it's Vision & Mission?

Poll added.

Please vote and opine at will...