Was transitioning to ISO 9001:2000 worth it?

[Marc]

What's The Advantage?

I've followed this thread and I'm not surprised in some ways. This seems to be a forceful "clean things up" effort which effects some discipline and 'house cleaning' outside of SOP management 'requirements'. Maybe I'll start a new thread with a poll... Is this valuable because it forces upper management to do things which they would otherwise 'ignore'?

What I most often see and hear is it is a 'tool' to force upper management to do some things which upper management otherwise would ignore (read not fund $ wise and/or employee wise). Those who embrace it are mid-level management and below who see it as a force upon upper- and mid-management to do certain things.

Just some thoughts. :thedeal:

 

[Shaun Daly]

What I most often see and hear is it is a 'tool' to force upper management to do some things which upper management otherwise would ignore (read not fund $ wise and/or employee wise). Those who embrace it are mid-level management and below who see it as a force upon upper- and mid-management to do certain things.

That sums up my experiance in a nutshell.

 

[Helmut Jilling]

The 94 standard also required objectives.

That's nothing new in 00 (except a reminder that they must be measurable).

The 94 satndard required objectives but in the most basic, generic sense. "we want to be really good and make our customers really happy" is not particularly powerful.

But, there is much, huge difference, if you work out the processes appropriately. It can make all the difference, if done right. It is not just a flow chart. It is defining the citeria for effectiveness for each and every process. For some clients, this is the first time they have defined "good," and the desired outcomes for each process from the (internal and external) customers' point of view. This has dramatically changed how some companies think. I have seen dramatic turnarounds.

In fairness, I have seen some weak transitions too, which were little more than a paperwork exercise, but I definitely try to push them toward a more comprehensive understand of the process approach.