Neale
I am currently writing company documentation in line with ISO 9000:2000 and decided to utilize a proprietary documentation system. I had heard of documentation packages offered by consulting firms, and a few such documentation packages offered by internet companies. Deals along these lines also show up on our fax machine weekly.
We purchased the complete documentation package sold by
www.iso9000store.com. They have provided twenty procedures, twenty-five forms and three basic form templates, in large part an insert-company-name-here situation. They have also provided a basic quality manual, which is a re-iteration of the standard and reference to procedures next to the requirements they meet. There is also a general introduction to the ISO 9001 standard and an online course aimed at explaining it line by line.
(Question to forum moderator: does this sound like anything
Elsmar.com offers? I'm interested in the details of premium file access.)
In my complete lack of experience with management and business documentation, I have found the CD-ROM from iso9000store quite helpful. It allows me to update our ISO '94 procedures with relative ease and addresses each line of the standard. It basically gives me a framework.
That said, avoid packaged compliance. The employee training package we also bought is inadequate. Generic forms and templates are not adequate. Packaged compliance is not adding any value to your business.
As far as documentation templates go, shop around. One thing that upset me about our package deal was the fact that it was contained entirely on less than 10 MB of a recordable CD-ROM. You can consult an "ISO 9000 Professional" online via instant messaging, but the best advice offered there was direction to this forum. The employee (internal auditor) training is..
Ask about access to the files directory at this place. If Elsmar.com offers a rough quality manual and general procedures in line with ISO 9000:2000, I would consider the yearly access fee a good deal. I haven't seen them so I couldn't say for myself, but I have a feeling the creators of those files care more about the improvement of your business and spirit of the standard than does a ISO 9000 "store."
Also, the program Angie Bowen mentions above sounds a little more legitimate than do the claims of next day air compliance.
If you are indeed new to business operating standards and quality management in general as I am, I can suggest a few things that I've found useful.
Buy the standards. ISO offers a compendium of ISO 9000 series standards.
Buy Juran's Quality Handbook, currently 5th Edition. This amazing publication can show you how to do the things a documentation system template says are being done.
Shop around for excellent documentation or templates. I don't mind using the package we have, but I would sure hate having to rely on it. Notice the cost.
Read this forum religiously, and read everything you can find on the internet. This is the most valuable resource I have found yet, but there is a great deal of information out there for free.
www.iso.ch, for example, and the guidance to ISO 9000 documents they offer for free.
Finally, concentrate on your customers. If you are pursuing third party registration to ISO 9001 because of market pressure, odds are good that the customers requiring it are willing to help you. Find out if they offer any business operating system standards for their suppliers. Read their websites to gain a feel for their ISO or QS/TS quality systems.
-- Erik
