Would ISO 9001 help a small Machine Shop?

[Esthyl - 2010]

Re: Would ISO help a small Machine Shop?

I should have mentioned that we do use JobBoss. All of our records are kept electronically in there and we do have each job we have ever done printed out individually and numerically stored in binders for backup reference.

When we recieve an order for a part that we have made in the past we search for the customers part number, note what we charged, check what we paid for material, price out new material, if the material cost has not increased we make the part again no questions asked. If the material price has increased since the last time we made it we simply inform them of our price increase. We have electronically sorted inventory that we can access. All of the jobs we have done in the past have included prints from the customer or prints we have made for the customer. Those prints are attached to each of the numerically sorted jobs in binders as well as electronically sorted in folders on our computer.

Just background info. And we do use the old school time cards system for keeping track of hours spent on jobs.

I think you have rather good tracking system for jobs & prices

FYI, I work in a small machine shop too. Our co. decided to go for ISO 9001:2000 certified mainly requested by customers, they want their vendors are ISO certified so that they have more confident to incoming products. It is a significant competitive edge over competitors (who are not ISO certified）in the eyes of existing or possible customers. After rec ISO 9001:2000 cert, I could see that our customers have more confident to us and it's a point we are better than our competitors.

Besides, after implemented ISO, we look into improvement more thoroughly and systematically, eg. have trainings, improvement plans and actions taken towards non-conformance products or vendors. It stimulates us to think how can we and why should we improve further. I think a company will earn more in long run with everyone believe that a co. should improve continuously.

I agree with many says that it's really true that 'it depends' whether implementation of ISO beneficial to a co. IMO, it will be really beneficial to a co. if you tailor made ISO system to your company needs & culture, as long as you adhere all the requirements. Then, implement monitor and improve it as necessarily.

I think it's important to keep the system as simple as possible and the no. of documents as minimum as possible, especially for small co. We implement the system to assist us for further improvement, not to burden us.

That's merely my own experience & views, hope it gives you some idea!

 

[Big Jim]

For what it is worth, I call on several businesses with employee counts as small or smaller than yours. One machine shop that is a one man operation. Several machine shops with less then ten employees. All feel that it is "worth it".

Besides what it does to help you monitor product quality (and that's critically important), a properly implemented ISO 9001:2000 based quality management system is a wonderful management tool. It helps with far more than just product quality.

To me, some of the key elements that make it a powerful management tool are "Analysis of Data" where you track customer satisfaction, product quality, process conformance, and supplier performance. These metrics and others are part of "Management Review" where the company determines the "state of the quality management system" and then plans "where they want to go from here".

When a quality management system is functioning well, the company is better organized, a better place to work, and has much less running around "putting out fires".

Those look like solid benefits to me. Isn't that what you would like for your company?

 

[cbrockma]

Thank you for all of the responses. Lots of relevant information here.

Assuming a shop has an efficient record keeping process including time spent on jobs, past jobs, current and old material prices, price increases, inventory, invoices etc... how much is involved in gaining certification from ISO?

 

[Coury Ferguson]

Thank you for all of the responses. Lots of relevant information here.

Assuming a shop has an efficient record keeping process including time spent on jobs, past jobs, current and old material prices, price increases, inventory, invoices etc... how much is involved in gaining certification from ISO?

Is the system documented?

You will have some requirements that you need to meet and address.

 

[cbrockma]

Is the system documented?

You will have some requirements that you need to meet and address.

No, the system is not currently documented. I figured I would have to document all of our accounting/ order proccessing procedures to meet ISO which shouldn't be difficult. What else is there? (in a nutshell)

 

[Coury Ferguson]

No, the system is not currently documented. I figured I would have to document all of our accounting/ order proccessing procedures to meet ISO which shouldn't be difficult. What else is there? (in a nutshell)

Flow-chart the Business from womb to tomb. Document the way the business performs. Develop Policy and Business Objectives. That will get you started.

 

[Wes Bucey]

No, the system is not currently documented. I figured I would have to document all of our accounting/ order proccessing procedures to meet ISO which shouldn't be difficult. What else is there? (in a nutshell)

Mostly, I find small companies do not have ANY process for internal audit and management review - everything is done "on-the-fly" with no preset plan and little or no record of the activity or the decisions made as a result of the activity.

 

[Big Jim]

Start by getting a copy of the ISO 9001:2000 standard and reading it carefully. Better still, take a class.

 

[Esthyl - 2010]

No, the system is not currently documented. I figured I would have to document all of our accounting/ order proccessing procedures to meet ISO which shouldn't be difficult. What else is there? (in a nutshell)

If I am not mistaken, accounting documents are not included in ISO sys; but Purchase Orders (POs) yes...

Mostly, I find small companies do not have ANY process for internal audit and management review - everything is done "on-the-fly" with no preset plan and little or no record of the activity or the decisions made as a result of the activity.

That's exactly what happened to our co. before ISO implementation. Indeed, I think well implemented ISO system will be really helpful for a small co. that it will guide us to get everything more organized and improve continuously. It's easier to start implementing ISO while a co. is small.

 

[Colin]

There will be thousands of stories out there about the pluses and minuses of getting certificated but I just came across this one 2 days ago. I went to conduct the 1st surveillance visit on an engineering company who have increased in size from 40-60 employees in the last 6 months and are on course to double their turnover this year.

They have also just won an order worth 1m Euros - I asked the MD if that was because they had ISO 9001 - his answer was that having it did not get them the job but not having it would have prevented them from doing so.

All coincidence? maybe, but they are convinced that it was worth it. By the way, they don't have such a great system yet, it's a bit generic so they are improving it as they go along.