Product Realization-verification vs testing

[Marifrances]

In section 7.1 Planning of product realization of ISO 9000:2000 there seems to be a distinction between "verification", and "monitoring, inspection, and test activities".

In planning product realization, the organization shall determine the following, as appropriate:
c) required verification, validation, monitoring, inspection and test activities specific to the product and the criteria for product acceptance;

I can't understand why "monitoring, inspection and testing" aren't subsets of the overall term "verification". Is it possible that in the design and development plan, these terms are referring to plans for product acceptance on the production floor.

Please, does anyone have a clue?
And in advance I thank you for your time and consideration.

 

[Al Dyer]

Although I am more in tune with QS-9000, I would target the words "as appropriate".

I believe the company has to define in their documentation which of the methods is best suited to the product. IMHO not all of the "as appropriate" methods need to be enacted for each product.

In our situation (automotive), there are different product lines where different "appropriate" methods are established and approved by the customer through Product Realization.

ASD...

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Al Dyer
Mngt. Rep.
ullysses3@excite.com

 

[David Mullins]

What ever you do, try to keep it simple.

Both you and your customer have a set of criteria with regards to what makes your product 'acceptable'. What do you do to make sure these outcomes (criteria) are achieved?

The answer to the question is your plan for product realization. It may, or may not, include verification, validation, monitoring, etc, etc.

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[Marc]

To add to Al and David's responses:

> ...there seems to be a distinction between "verification", and "monitoring,
> inspection, and test activities..."

I wouldn't get too hung up in the specific differences. For example, one might make a case that if you are inspecting something you are, in fact, monitoring it (inspections {samples} over time).

I think of them this way:

Inspection is taking a feature and deciding whether or not the feature is acceptable according to a standard or other defined criteria and recording the findings (data).

I think of monitoring more along the lines of - say a temperature gage on an oven.

I think of testing much like I do inspection except when I hear the word TEST I think of something beyond measuring a dimension or such - I think of something like material analysis or a method of analyzing function with respect to requirements (does it work?).

I usually associate verification as a design phase activity - but again, I think these in some ways are used somewhat interchangably.

I look forward to some thoughts from others on differences myself.

 

[John C]

We take a prototype car out for a long, fast run, just after dawn on a straight, quiet road, up into the mountains.

We monitor the engine temperature by inspecting the guage from time to time, to verify that it isn't over the red and, in so doing, we test the cooling system's characteristics against specification and validate it's performance expectations.
rgds, John C