Transitioning to ISO 9000:2000

[Master of IT]

I need lots of Help!!!!

I was hired one year ago by a company that is looking to get certified. I started in May of 2001 after completing my masters in Industrial Technology. Lets just say the only quality courses that I took covered SPC and that is it. Well somehow I made the cut and was hired and the first thing I had to do was start learning about QS-9000. The company I am working for had absolutely no quality system and this was what I had to begin with. Lets just say I was not very popular with the workers. So I started in may and by march 2001 we were to be certified. Well that all blew up and now we are working towards ISO 9002 1994. Yes I understand that this is the old standard yet this is what I have to do. Well now I need to be done by Nov 2001. Lets just say this is very very very unrealistic and management does not care at all. I need help very badly, I am working with a consultant and this is going nowhere. So I am asking any out there for some help. I love the field that I am working in and want to be successful so if everyone was to help, your kindness will be returned ten-fold. Thanks Jon.

 

[energy]

Jon,

This is the best site for you to get the information you need. But, without your Management and workforce embracing the concept, placing unrealistic time frames for YOU to get it done, no amount of informaton will help you. You had eight months and were about to be certified and it "blew up". What happened? Did the company walk away because it was too hard? Did a registrar dash their dreams? It's July and they want to go for it again, without the design element, in November. Sounds like it would be "do-able" if you got close the first time. If you explain "blew up" a with a little more detail, there are people on this site who will be willing to, and can help you.

energy

 

[Michael T]

Hi Jon...

First off... this forum is the right place to start looking for any information on ISO/QS/TQM/etc. The ftp files are full of good information that help reduce a good bit of the "reinventing the wheel" syndrome.

Now - to the problem at hand...my advise: RUN LIKE H*LL... Sorry, that's kinda tongue-in-cheek, but you are in an untennable situation. If upper management isn't completely behind the ISO registration process and willing to adopt and live by the QMS procedures developed, you are pretty much doomed from the get-go. I was in a very similar situation in my former job and almost gave up the Quality profession because of it. Four months to conduct a gap analysis, develop, implement and audit a QMS (internally), schedule a pre-registration audit, etc., etc., etc. is, to quote you, "very very very unrealistic".

However, I am more than happy to help you any way I can (as I'm sure almost everyone on this forum would be). I have a couple of questions to get an idea of where you stand in this tempest...
1) How familiar are you with ISO-9002:1994?
2) Is ISO-9002 the standard you want to be registered to? (Meaning, do you have design control functions at your facility?)
3) If it is ISO rather than QS that management wishes to pursue, why not ISO-9001:2000?
4) How much of the QS program did you get accomplished before management changed their minds?

We have a pretty good system where I currently work, and I'd be willing to share the format, etc., with you.

Best of luck!!!

Mike

 

[Master of IT]

First of all what I mean by blew up is upper management decided that ISO better suited the customer were are attracting. So as for as close as I was at that time lets just say nowhere close to being complete. We also switched consultants at that time and ofcouse the rose picture was painted that yah you can get that done by that time. Well needless to say no one else here wants to get work done so it is dropped on me. So all my time is devoted to keeping management, personell, and customers happy. More like I am the goto guy than the company quality professional. I need to develop and start point, I have certain areas done yet when I start working on others I lose myself. It is as if I need to have a Quality System for Dummies. That just explains this is what you do. I hesitate to start because it seems that things are not done right the first time so there goes all that work and lets just start over. THis is getting very flustrating. I feel it would be better off to have worked with a working quality system than trying to pull one out of thin air. Thanks for the words of encouragement.

 

[Al Dyer]

Agree with Jim and MT,

It might not be time to bail yet, but the writing is on the wall. Even if the certification goes well, what about the surv. audits. Document all activities in your goal of certification and save all those e-mails requesting others to "participate" in the process. Don't let them make you the scape-goat!

And management wants to go for ISO9000:1994? I bet they still have old TFE manuals yaying around.

Maybe do a good search of this site and print some of the posts and show management that at the very least, they should go for the 2000 version of ISO. You're going to have to upgrade anyways.

Without management buy-in the whole process is a waste of time. I hope they pay you well!

A previously posted, this is a good place to get the information you need and there are many members who will help you with any bumps in the road.

ASD...

[This message has been edited by Al Dyer (edited 05 July 2001).]

 

[Randy]

Are Registrars even doing 9000:94 anymore?

You may be spinning your wheels on the old standard. I'd do a quick check and see if it's too late for the 94 standard and start working on the 2000 version.

 

[Marc]

I also question the 2 consultants. What were their approaches? Why did you switch? When did you switch.

There are both factors to consider. The consultant may not be 'knowledgeable' of may have stuck you with an 'idiot' plan.

If you were 'almost' done for QS-9000, then you should have everything you need for ISO 9000.

On the management end - last week I turned down a job because I know the environment would not be good for my mental health and well being.

-> Document all activities in your goal of certification and
-> save all those e-mails requesting others to "participate"
-> in the process. Don't let them make you the scape-goat!

Yes, yes, YES!!!

 

[Marc]

How many people in the company??

 

[Graeme]

Reality check: if top management is not actively supporting and aiding you, your chances are slim. YOU cannot do it. THEY have to do it, preferably with leadership by example. After all, why does the standard (whichever version) START with "top management responsibility"? And do they have any clue why it is called a Quality MANAGEMENT Standard"?

As it is said, I have been there, done that, and have a few scars from being subjected to TQLS (total quality lip service).

By the way, has anyone actually asked this potential customer what they want?

Some suggestions ...

• Define your core (value-adding) and supporting business processes.
• Determine how those processes are actually documented and managed.
• Compare that to the requirements of the standard, using an objective evidence matrix.
• Start filling in the holes. A good place to start is the appointment letter from the CEO to the Management Representative. That should make it clear that the MR has the CEO's ear and speaks with his/her voice.
• Try to get the chief financial officer on board - if quality improvements are made they usually save money in the long run.
• Even if you are not in a leadership position, try to lead by example.
• Keep your resume updated and your scram bag packed.

Best wishes,
Graeme

[This message has been edited by Graeme (edited 05 July 2001).]

 

[Master of IT]

There are around 100 people employed with the company. The CEO has made it clear that I am the MR, yet does not stand behind what I am trying to do. The CEO feels that he knows how the Quality System is to work since he helped in the implementation at a facility he worked at before this. Well needless to say what ever I come up with is not what he wanted and then when I do what he wants it is usually incorrect either in scope or definition. As for the CFO well that is an entirely different story all together. Lets just say that where I work is more of soap opera than the "Young and the Restless". Not that there is anything wrong with a female financial officer, yet I have lost in the last year the production manager, inventory control specialist, two accountants, and one very experienced production supervisor, with another on the way out the door, along with the disposing of our plant manager back to PD manager, since the numbers where not meet. Know does this picture sound wonderful or what?

So as you can see the "NUMBERS" are more important than the Quality System. So you see where I am in the pack. And I am one of five managers left.

I have explored the options of leaving and had entertained an offer I recieved earlier this spring. Yet that company right now is very slow and a Quality Engineer may not be needed. So without jeopardizing my current position I stay in place. Also in the mix is the fact that I just bought my first home and in this area of the country there are not many jobs for people in the Quality field so again I am stuck where I am at.

I really want this to work. So maybe because I am a stupid pollak or maybe a little to chivalrous for my own good. I stay where I am at and just keep trying to get this done.

The consultants, the first one is a good friend of the CEO and ofcouse the CEO feels he is a complete help. Well when I ask for anything usually I am made out to feel like an idiot for asking. The other has 25 years of experience. Yet he is always a little too busy to respond to email or even when he is here that he is not looking at the clock and wondering when he could get back on the road.

I will update everyone with where I am at in reguards to each element. I have also contacted NSF-ISR and very much like the person I am dealing with. Has anyone worked with them before.

Thanks Jon.