Al Dyer said:
ISO/QS/TS in of themselves can be wonderful business tools. While many companies achieve compliance without registration, we never hear to much about those companies. What we hear are news releases, articles etc... about paying a company $15,000+++++ to have another resource issue a peice of paper that says they agree with you.
And then charge a yearly amount to keep agreeing with you.
My cynical self,:mg:
Al...
Even without a formal poll, I would guess a majority of our Covers, even the ones who make a living by being 3rd party auditors, have a cynical view of the 3rd party concept of auditing to a Standard. The cynicism ranges from mild
(we would be merely "compliant" except for customer requirements) to outright vitriol
(ISO 3rd party auditing is a scam!)
Few of us, of course, have the time or energy to take a truly dispassionate look at the certification process and determine whether it is necessary for us as customers to DEMAND formal registration by our suppliers. (I find it is always more instructive to take a look at a disputed process from more than one angle before reaching my own conclusion on its "rightness" or "wrongness")
As a customer (regardless of what I'm shopping for), my primary concern is to get a product or service which meets or exceeds my expectations about form, fit, function, value.
Thus said, my barber and my landscape maintenance crew do work I am more competent to judge than any third party. Why would I need them to additionally pay to be registered by a third party? In the case of the barber, my state says he needs a license to operate because of general health and hygiene concerns. The licensing process does NOT say whether he is a good barber or bad barber, only that he is hygienic.
In products I buy, I admit I look for a UL (Underwriter's Laboratory) label on electrical products because it gives me confidence I won't be electrocuted, but that doesn't tell me whether the DVD player is good or not or whether it is a good value, only that I won't be electrocuted.
I guess the cynicism most folks feel is that too many customers are equating an ISO label with a UL or CE label as a minimum mark of safety.
The problem is those same customers have no clear idea of what they are safe FROM.
- from bad products?
- from late deliveries?
- from bad value?
- from liability if a product fails?
- from fraud?
So, exactly what does having a supplier formally registered to ISO9001:2000 do for a customer? I've been in business for 40 years; I've seen Quality concepts and Systems come and go. Whether or not a Supplier was formally registered or merely compliant with one of those Systems was never a determining factor for me in selecting or approving a supplier.
I almost always let the product or service provided by a supplier speak for itself. Did a supplier have a formal 5S Plan? I didn't care so long as he had a neat, clean operation when I went to visit.
Did a supplier know what a Kaizen event was? I didn't care as long as he talked about and showed off the steady improvements he'd made in his operations over time.
(My barber installed a "whole shop" vacuum system - no dust raised from sweeping, no noise from a shop vac running between the chairs. Does he know Kaizen? Will I ask him? Nah! I would rather know his views on the clowns we have running for Congress and the Senate.)
Document Control? I built some birdhouses and feeders for my wife to put in our yard. I bought some plans and bills of materials at ACE Hardware. I bought the lumber and Plexiglass at Menard's Lumber; I used aspen instead of pine called for in the plans because I liked the grain pattern better. I had plenty of stainless steel fasteners and some hinges left over from previous projects, so I didn't get the ones listed in the BOM. I mixed brands of fasteners. I spilled a can of
beer over the plans and ripped them as I was setting them over a sawhorse to dry, so I ended up throwing them away. I didn't keep the receipt for the lumber. The Plexiglass scratched easily from the squirrels, but it still serves a purpose of letting us know when it's time to refill the seeds.
So, no documentation. I probably should have used Lexan to reduce the amount of scratching and clouding, but neither the birds nor my wife care. The squirrels and the chipmunks don't seem to care either. My neighbor said, "Cool! Can I borrow your bandsaw to cut some wood so I can make some, too?"
Bottom line: You may pursue ISO registration because a customer demands it, but having it ONLY benefits your organization as a guideline to follow toward improvement, not your customers. The proof of the pudding is how many ISO registered organizations
- still produce dreck,
- still have late deliveries,
- still need to have a Corrective Action Plan in place
because registration, Poka Yoke, Mistake Proofing, Kaizen, Corrective Action, and Continual Improvement did NOT prevent nonconformance.
The point is: Achieving a Quality Management System worthy of the name is a continual PROCESS, not a once-and-done event. ISO or TQM or Baldrige or any other 3rd party system is only a guide, not an end in itself. Organizations may be excellent with their own systems; organizations may be terrible even if they follow the letter (but not the spirit) of a 3rd party system.