The following application article is part of a larger set of articles
published under the title ISO 9000 in Scientific
Computing as a special supplement to Scientific Computing & Automation
magazine.
HEWLETT-PACKARD
COMPANY
Larry Cattran, Worldwide Manufacturing Manager, Analytical Products Group
Although HP is investing significant energy into achieving ISO 9000 compliance,
that has never been our ultimate goal. ISO 9000 registration is rather viewed
as a minimum requirement to complete, and one which by itself does not always
guarantee good quality. It is, however, very consistent with our goal of
building a truly market-focused organization that is continually improving
its ability to deliver differentiating value to customers. Initial ISO 9000
compliance provides a more consistent, better understood platform from which
HP can more rapidly improve its ability to deliver that value.
As we have been educating ourselves about ISO requirements, common questions
asked have been about where ISO 9000 fits relative to HP's other quality
programs and its redundancy as we already have good quality.
The answer is mixed. Yes, HP does have a reputation for high quality, but
our informal style often results in processes not documented to an ISO level
of completeness. Also we tend to get more variability due to real-time management
of the process rather than fully understood process metrics which yield
consistent, day-to-day results. ISO has therefore helped bring new rigor
to understanding and documenting our processes. It has helped shorten the
training time for new employees and has helped to improve longer term consistency.
In short, it has made a good system better. ISO is therefore one more aid
in our never ending pursuit of quality.