ISO 9000 Where to Start

[Big Jim]

Ivory tower, the rubber meets the road, yada yada. The same challenge to you, Jim. What requirements are unclear?

Yada Yada Yada.

Specifically for this post what I quoted from your post shows information that hasn't filtered down to users.

"What we have here is a failure to communicate"

What effort has been made to communicate what the ivory tower has perceived as what we down here don't understand about the proper understanding of exactly what you mean by "process"?

Start there.

I enjoyed your post. Why hasn't this been passed down more effectively?

 

[Agaba]

Jim, would mind emailing me your gap analysis checklist? I do not have 10 posts yet so I am unable to send you a private message.

 

[RomanK]

I have worked with a few one man companies, both as an auditor and as a consultant.

A comment I often hear from clients is that they could have done it by themselves, but it was much faster working with a consultant.
...

Next, I would suggest doing a gap analysis yourself. I have a checklist I use for that if you want to PM me.

Used properly a gap checklist can be very helpful. Obviously you and I disagree. In certain circumstances they are extremely useful. In other cases they are nearly useless. I believe he would benefit from one, especially since he is trying to do this on his own while keeping up with the work volume in his shop. The various one I have are in Word format, not Excel, although the format doesn't matter.

I also know some are misleading. The original OER for AS9100 was loaded with misleading information.

@Big Jim , can I get a copy of this list, please? I'm new here and I can't PM yet. (I've only been reading threads)

I contract for a tiny company that mainly does R&D and some physical delivery of products related to IT hardware. The company has 3 co-owners and 4 contractors (including me). The owners want to get 9001 certified and asked me to look into it. I had no idea what ISO 9001:2015 was until a few days ago. My main task is present to them what route we should go. Me doing it or hiring a consultant. Right now I'm at the point where I think that I should do it vs hiring a consultant. I got the REDACTED kit and also his book. I also just found out that someone has already purchased a kit from easy9001.

Sorry for bringing this thread back from the dead.

 

[John Broomfield]

Roman,

Work with top management to determine the processes essential to winning work, doing the work and getting paid promptly. Name the owner of each of these processes. From customer needs to cash in the bank this is known as the core process.

You could also choose to end up with a deployment flowchart depicting the core process from end to end. Teamflow works well.

Then use your knowledge of the standard to determine the processes that direct, resource and improve the core process. Again, identify the owners of each of these support processes.

Then work with each of the process owners to capture their understanding of how each processes actually works. Remember to include the links to existing forms and textual instructions. Avoid the temptation to copy the standard or idealize any of the processes. Ask each process owner to engage its team (usually cross-functional) in reviewing the flowcharted procedure and it’s associated documents for as-is accuracy.

As a result of this work you may find nonconformities when compared with ISO 9001. Write each of these up as corrective action requests to initiate the necessary action (and training) to improve your system while conforming to the standard. Update your flowcharted procedures accordingly.

Top management will end up with a documented model of their management system which they can use to engage their employees to use and improve the rate at which the core process adds value.

This natural representation of the organization working as a system (and system itself) will also happen to conform to ISO 9001 ready for certification once you’ve completed two cycles of improvement including audit and management review.

Search The Cove for further tips on developing your process-based management system.

John

 

[Big Jim]

I'm sure you will have a lot of questions as you move forward. We are here to help.

 

[RomanK]

@John Broomfield and @Big Jim , Thanks guys. I've been really enjoying this forum so far. Very interesting discussions.
Also, the [REDACTED] kit, is that company/person banned from here or they did something bad/wrong?

EDIT: Forgot to mention what i do is pretty simple. The owner that does the design, also receives the POs. Then he tells me.. hey build me a model-B5 then I order the missing parts (if any) and build the unit and send it to the customer. Other than the initial design that slowly evolves, I'm a one-man shop.

 

[jmech]

@John Broomfield and @Big Jim , Thanks guys. I've been really enjoying this forum so far. Very interesting discussions.
Also, the [REDACTED] kit, is that company/person banned from here or they did something bad/wrong?

EDIT: Forgot to mention what i do is pretty simple. The owner that does the design, also receives the POs. Then he tells me.. hey build me a model-B5 then I order the missing parts (if any) and build the unit and send it to the customer. Other than the initial design that slowly evolves, I'm a one-man shop.

I'm not totally sure who [REDACTED] is because it's been redacted, but if it's somebody who's last name is the capital of France, then he had some legal disputes with Elsmar and the previous owner that resulted in references to him being banned on this site.

 

[Golfman25]

@Big Jim , can I get a copy of this list, please? I'm new here and I can't PM yet. (I've only been reading threads)

I contract for a tiny company that mainly does R&D and some physical delivery of products related to IT hardware. The company has 3 co-owners and 4 contractors (including me). The owners want to get 9001 certified and asked me to look into it. I had no idea what ISO 9001:2015 was until a few days ago. My main task is present to them what route we should go. Me doing it or hiring a consultant. Right now I'm at the point where I think that I should do it vs hiring a consultant. I got the REDACTED kit and also his book. I also just found out that someone has already purchased a kit from easy9001.

Sorry for bringing this thread back from the dead.

I'll go a different tact. With 3 owners and 4 contractors (7 people) what benefit is ISO certification? Is it required by your customers/potential customers? My own opinion is the larger the bureaucracy the more benefit ISO becomes. For your small company, I'd focus resources on growth first. What is the opportunity cost to do ISO vs something else? If they are smart business people ISO will provide little value as most of the requirements will be done via good business practices.

If you do decide to go forward, see if you can find a "working group" where you all share the resources of a consultant and each other. Cheaper than a consultant and easier than sitting by yourself trying to figure it out. Good luck.

 

[John C. Abnet]

@Golfman25 raises a good point @RomanK ;

Your organization may wish to consider developing an ISO 9001 consistent management system in order to gain the benefits...eg....

- Established defined processes and owners (helps organization sustain as it grows/workforce changes)
- Controlled /standardized processes.
- etc....

...etc...etc.. This will prevent your organization from creating a potential tangle that is difficult to then unravel/restructure if/when growth/requirements cause an eventual need for eventual CERTIFICATION.

Hope this helps.
Be well...

 

[RomanK]

@Golfman25 , @John C. Abnet
The ISO 9001 certification is required by some of our potential clients. They want to see it before placing orders. Our company is not going to grow for the next few years or at all. We're adding one more contractor in the next year or so, and that's about it. I do almost all of the physical work and the other guys do the design/programming and office work. Basically, everything that 9001 needs defined is done by me.