Your Opinion: What are the Benefits of ISO implementation?

[srooney]

benefits $$ of ISO implementation?

Quality People,
I attended an ASQ auditing class last week & a question arose that the instructor couldn't answer. I believe SOMEBODY must know the answer, so I will pose the question here. Is there any documented evidence, data, survey results, etc., that support the implementation of an ISO 9001:2000 QMS in relation to either cost savings, an increase in efficiency or higher levels of Quality? I called ANSI & they didn't know. I would think that this is a standard question from clients seeking ISO registration. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks!
Steve

 

[energy]

That question has been asked many times in various forum topics. No straight answers. No concrete evidence. Just a feeling that it must. For us, it means more business because we remove the existing barrier for trade in South America, Europe, and others. In that respect it has $$ value. How much? We'll never know. Right now we get the question " Are you ISO Certified? Usually happens during the quotation stage. If we get the job our price was right. If not, we don't know if it was the price or the lack of ISO Registration. You will see a lot of opinions, which all make sense. But,I know of no sanctioned comparison data on costs with or without ISO Certification. If that was available, it would be a powerful tool for ISO sellers and buyers.

 

[srooney]

i did some research & found quite a bit of info by asking google "benefits of ISO 9000"
I also found this: https://www.oag.state.ny.us/investors/1999_online_brokers/risk_management.html
This is great, although it relates to the brokerage industry.
Relates ISO to CMM & quality!!
Steve

 

[Marc]

That question has been asked many times in various forum topics.

Come on, Sheriff... Give some links to threads! {Tee hee heee!}

 

[noboxwine]

Look out !

This is one of my favorite topics but I promise I will keep it short and off the cuff.

** Compliance: Using the models as a business improvement tool, can be a huge ROI, with management committment and common sense. It is a sound interaction of systems that work very well together to improve all facets of the business.

** Registration: Fuitless,costly and bizzre. I have conducted numerous registrations, with numerous registrars. And, outside of the trump card

"WE HAVE TO BE REGISTERED TO KEEP OUR CUSTOMERS..........yadda, blah",

my data proves it is an absolute waste of resources, time and money. No value whatsoever.

Thoughts ?

 

[Aaron Lupo]

I agree with Nobox 100%, if you have dedicated people that take their work seriously and use common sense( I think we decided in a previous thread maybe it is not so common), then ISO registration is of no benefit, unless of course your customers require it then there is an obvious benefit. However, I have seen plenty of companies that need the certificate to motivate the work force they have, to get people to do the things that make good business sense. For the most part what I have seen is if there is not a standard tell people they need to do A, B, and C then they won’t. Sad but true!

In my case we need to have ISO Certification because our clients require it (makes it muck easier for them to get things thru the EU).

 

[RoxaneB]

This is one of my favorite topics but I promise I will keep it short and off the cuff.

** Compliance: Using the models as a business improvement tool, can be a huge ROI, with management committment and common sense. It is a sound interaction of systems that work very well together to improve all facets of the business.

** Registration: Fuitless,costly and bizzre. I have conducted numerous registrations, with numerous registrars. And, outside of the trump card

"WE HAVE TO BE REGISTERED TO KEEP OUR CUSTOMERS..........yadda, blah",

my data proves it is an absolute waste of resources, time and money. No value whatsoever.

Thoughts ?

Can I say I agree...sort of? To comply with the requirements and take the concept of Continual Improvement to heart can provide numerous benefits. It's all with the intent of making the Organization more effective and efficient and that boils down to $$$ gained/saved.

Registration, the actual piece of paper, is valueless...but if your Customers want you to have it and will only continue to do business with you if you have it, well, that is obviously $$$. For those organizations, no registration means no Customers means no money.

 

[tschones]

It's funny that Marc should resurrect this topic with a comment yesterday. One of my companies subsidiaries is interested in attaining ISO 9000:2000 certification (the parent company already has it). The number of customers asking for ISO registration are few, so we started asking the question "So what are the benefits of ISO registration?"

The answer to that question are many. In general, ISO 9000 provides a very good (not perfect) framework to develop an operational management system (notice I didn't say "quality" management system, because while such processes have a primary focus on quality, such processes also impact delivery, cost, associate happiness, and safety, which are all outputs of the system that we want to optimize in addition to quality). Another associate is trying to determine exactly how many customers are requiring this subsidiary to have ISO certification. If that analysis comes back "few", then I'm proposing to the group that we:
* Go through all of the requirements within ISO 9000 and rate them on their value (H, M, L) added.
* Then develop and implement an action plan to address the high and medium value-added requirements with the intent to not attain ISO certification.

If we did this:
* We could look everyone straight in the eye and say that we are making these changes for the right reasons
* We could scale back the resource requirement for the project to some degree (not sure exactly how much until we did the value analysis above)
* We certainly would be employing the 80/20 rule and getting a bigger bang for our buck by not implementing some of the low/no value requirements
* We would probably be only a couple of months away from ISO certification (if we ever decided it was absolutely necessary)
* We would prove to ourselves that organizationally we have the character and discipline to make the necessary changes without the need for an external impetus

Our decision to determine the direction we will take will be made next week. I'll inform you of what we decide.

 

[Mike S.]

However, I have seen plenty of companies that need the certificate to motivate the work force they have, to get people to do the things that make good business sense. For the most part what I have seen is if there is not a standard tell people they need to do A, B, and C then they won’t. Sad but true!

I'll drink to that.

 

[RoxaneB]

In general, ISO 9000 provides a very good (not perfect) framework to develop an operational management system (notice I didn't say "quality" management system, because while such processes have a primary focus on quality, such processes also impact delivery, cost, associate happiness, and safety, which are all outputs of the system that we want to optimize in addition to quality).

I've seen the use of the word "Quality" used rather frequently in Cove...no surprise there. But what concerns me is the way it is used - as if applies solely to product quality. If the product's physical characteristics meet those desired, than it is a Quality product.

If I am the Customer, I have more requirements than just the product that meets the physical specifications. I want it delievered on time. I want my sales rep to be polite and courteous and knowledgeable. I want my bang for my buck. And so on.

These are *all* of my requirements. Should any one or number of them not be met, then, in my opinion, my product is not Quality.

The Customer-related processes section of the Standards gets into all forms of Customer requirements. If an Organization does meet these requirements (stated, unstated, necessary, regulatory, etc.), then the product is not Quality.

Or am I just missing something here? Can we blame it on the lack of air conditioning in my office?