Maybe, these companies have suddenly become successful, achieved improved profits, joined a new club,... or perhaps they have purchased some new academic qualification. All of these could be true!
Quality Assurance Registration is a grand, and ambiguous, term for companies who should be able to satisfy customers, consistently. As individuals, we probably shop at the same supermarket every week because it satisfies our requirements better than others. We make these decisions on the basis of "quality", i.e. satisfying our personal requirements. If our chosen supermarket changed its policy or performance we may well change our allegiance. Quality does not mean high or low performance, it means reliably consistent products or service.
If we look at successful companies (e.g. Sony, McDonalds, Toyota, BMW), they commonly possess a sound reputation for consistency, reliability, value for money and good customer service. They also have large numbers of repeat customers, who continue to return. This is their recipe for success.
Certification means that companies have been examined, and found to have an effective management system, which is capable of consistent performance. This examination is conducted against a published standard known throughout the world as ISO (International Standard) 9000 series. If we look in detail at successful companies, we find that each of their management systems possess similar elements. ISO9000 describes those elements as a set of requirements for any company's management system.
Obviously, it must be remembered that improvement is always possible via new tools, techniques, skills, equipment. When this occurs, the best practice will change, and the procedures will need to be updated.
If an individual is to be encouraged to use a procedure for reference, the procedure needs to be understandable, simple and available. A good example is a recipe. This normally contains simple instructions, and is more usable if it contains a photograph of the finished article, enabling us to perform a complex process, producing consistently good product, time and time again.
The requirements are sound common sense.
Systems would be required for customer related activities, e.g.:-
 |
Contract Review -ensuring that the customer's needs are correctly identified
|
|
Document Control -ensuring that staff are issued with the correct versions of documentation (including software) needed to perform the task; and removing obsolete documents
|
|
Purchasing -ensuring identity of preferred suppliers; and a system for advising them of what is expected to be supplied
|
|
Training -ensuring that training needs are identified; and records of who has been trained, in which topics
|
|
Non-conformance -documenting errors and ensuring that they are corrected
|
|
Corrective Action -preventing errors from recurring; processing customer complaints and improving
|
This is undertaken by one of many Regsitration Bodies. These are independent bodies established to assess company management systems to ISO9000. They employ assessors or auditors, who are Registered under a national recognition scheme.
The final stage is for auditors to visit the company in order to check that it's operations are in accordance with its procedures. If some items are not working correctly, these will be documented as discrepancies or noncompliances, for correction by the company.
Whether a company succeeds at the first attempt will depend upon the nature of the discrepancies raised (not necessarily on the quantity).
Once Registration is achieved, the auditors(s) will return, normally twice per year, for routine surveillance visits. These brief examinations ensure that the management system continues to operate effectively.
The choice of Registration Body can also influence the timescale as some will perform their role in 5 weeks, whilst others will take 7 months or more.
Costs split into 3 main categories:
|
Company This is the cost of time spent by company personnel
|
|
Consultant It is common to use a consultant to help with development and implementation of a quality management system, as this may achieve the objectives more cheaply, effectively or rapidly. The cost of quality management consultancy would normally be at least $12000, for companies of up to 150 employees.
|
|
Registration This cost is variable depending upon the choice of Registration Body. For example a company of 25 employees can pay from $2000 to $12000 for the initial registration.
|
Editor's Notes
Peter Griffin is managing consultant of P Griffin & Associates (PGA); one of the leading quality management consultancies operating in Europe and the USA.
P Griffin & Associates have assisted 260 companies (ranging from 3 employees to multi-national corporations) to achieve improvements in quality and ISO9000 Registration.
While the majority of companies fail to achieve ISO9000 certification at the first attempt, 98% of PGA's quality assurance clients have achieved first-time success.
| Last modified | February 2006 |
| We have been serving the community since February 12th 1996 |
Thank you for visiting |
