New ISO Program

ISO won’t fix anything…I’ve been down that road too many times. Do your research. A new GM might help you make progress but you to implement effective systems. Implement the right things for the right reasons… ISO might provide a few ideas but certification first is a sure road to h3!!
 
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With all that is and isn't going on here, I'm remaining hopefully optimistic. I know it's going to be a long strange trip, but I believe if we can use ISO and the new GM to move things along, we can make this place really rock.
What Bev said. If you're using ISO as "motivator" you're doomed from the start. You need to make changes because they make good business sense, not because ISO says so.
 
Purchasing Manager? Sorry if I led you to believe we have one. The Dir. of Ops and Engineering make their own purchases. Starting to get the picture?
Ok, so what, you don't have a single purchasing manager. Each person orders what they order, so you'll have to talk to two people to get their criteria.
 
What Bev said. If you're using ISO as "motivator" you're doomed from the start. You need to make changes because they make good business sense, not because ISO says so.
Agreed. ISO serves the business. not the other way around.

Back to OP: Step one: ban the word ISO on the floor. Literally. Do not say it. Do not say compliance, Do not say auditor, Do not say requirement. When production people hear those words, they immediately feel powerless and unable to leverage their expertise in the process.

Instead you talk about rework, scrap, getting yelled at for things upstream (lack of control on their work quality)

Step two: give them control levers, not an SOP. You do not walk in with a finished process. You walk in with a question. "Hey Joe, where does this job usually go sideways?" Then "If you could change one thing here that would make your day easier, what would it be?" Then shut up. Don't interrupt or offer solutions as they speak. They are providing witness testimony to you, which you can't always find in data and spreadsheets.

It signals respect. It shifts ownership. Make the new rule(s) protect them immediately

The first time Joe uses the control and QA backs him, you lock it in. Now Joe sees you as a part of his team.... and if something goes wrong while he follows the rules, you MUST defend Joe & production always.
 
If you're using ISO as "motivator" you're doomed from the start.
A picture of ISO as a "Motivator" also known as "Lucille"
New ISO Program
 
Randy's favorite audit question is "what is your official policy on physical discipline, and does it include 'Lucile'?"
 
I don’t know about ‘positive’, but you got great feedback from people with decades of experience with implementing successful and effective quality improvements and with both successful and catastrophic ‘ISO programs’. We don’t need luck as we’ve already learned the hard way and then done it successfully - that’s why we’re here.

(Aside from the tangent on zombie hunting. You have been here long enough to know that when a thread is exhausted and more advice would only be redundant, the thread veers off into inside joking amongst the regulars. It is akin to the joshing that happens when the meeting adjourns and people set off to the next meeting, lunch or the potty.)

You came here asking for our collective advice and we gave it. It is up to you to reflect on it and decide for yourself. Some people can learn from other’s experience and some have to touch the hot stove for themselves. You might try googling “the black swan”. Good luck to you…and remember that the old wive’s tale about butter on burns doesn’t make things better…
 
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