Originally posted by isodog:
Then WAIT! Money spent tomprrow costs you less than money spent today. I see NO added value!
Unfortunately, like a disease, waiting often costs much, much more. A planned, incremental transition shouldn't cost you any significant money. If a company needs a consultant for the transition it's only because they don't have the appropriate expertise in-house. Any company which doesn't have the in-house expertise deserves to pay a consultant - they're on the cheap anyway.
Take a brief read through
Elsmar.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/000307.html When folks write things like "...Yes Richard did work with our group and he was a God send, we couldn't have gotten registered without his guidance. He helped set up a system, and generate an attitude in the organization that truly bought into the benefits of a fully implemented Quality Management System. You consultants provide such a valuable service that is all too often unrecognized as being necessary by the management teams of most companies I've had experience with...." By the way, Rich was one of the folks I brought into Motorola's Phoenix registration project.
A good consultant can save a company significantly - in time and money, both in the short term and in the long term. Companies might not like paying us, but they do have the option of hiring personnel full time who are qualified to do the work they pay us to do.
Remember, we're not making the rules. We don't require you to do ISO or whatever. A company chooses to do so and it is their option whether to accomplish their goal with internal personnel or with consultants.
You say: "...Then WAIT!..." By all means. wait until the last minute. Nothing like reactionary, last minute firefighting as opposed to an orderly, timely transition. That's always the cheapest way, right?
You say: "... I see NO added value!..." If you plan to be supplying the automotive industry 3 to 5 years from now you will not have a choice whether it's 'value added' or not. For many companies right now QS and ISO are not value added - except in so far as sales goes. No QS - no sales to GM, Ford or Chrysler. Harley didn't do the ISO dance because they wanted to or because it is to them value added - Germany and several other european countries threatened to stop imports. Harley had no choice - it was related to sales, not any additional value to their company. They may say otherwise - but I know the facts. I was there.
