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.
There are two trains of thought regarding why an organization should pursue
ISO 9000 registration. Either you pursue registration for marketing reasons
because your competitors are achieving certification and/or because you
want to differentiate your company and products from the competition. Or
you pursue registration for quality reasons because you want to elevate
your company's internal practices to offer a better external product or
service. More often than not, it is a combination of both reasons that drives
a company to implement ISO 9000. Companies contemplating registration to
the standard should examine these issues and whether either or both impacts
their organization.
In Europe more and more companies, particularly government entities and
certain regulated industries, are requiring supplier registration. It is
rapidly becoming a de facto market requirement for companies that wish to
do business with the European Community (EC). If two suppliers are trying
to land the same EC contract, the supplier registered to ISO 9000 has a
clear competitive advantage. From this standpoint, the value of an ISO 9000
registration may rest not in how much it will cost to get registered, but
how much it will cost if you don't.
Beyond monetary reasons, however, the best reason to seek registration is
the reason the standard was developed in the first place -- to improve quality.
It is designed as a framework to put in place consistent processes. It is
not all encompassing, nor is it meant to be. However, for companies just
implementing quality within their organizations, it is a very workable first
step.
"We're already seeing a cultural change," observes John Goetz,
Bio-Rad's ECS Division Manager. "Individuals have internalized responsibilities
for solving problems and no longer avoid difficult issues. As a result,
nothing falls between departments any more or gets avoided. Good enough
is no longer good enough -- it has to be right. This is making a positive
difference in the psyche of the people."
Companies find that the close scrutiny placed on processes typically enables
them to streamline and reduce inefficient process costs such as rework.
What they've spent to achieve registration is being recouped in internal
cost savings alone.
"Essentially ISO 9000's application is good commercial business sense,"
remarks John Peel, Country Manager for Varian-TEM, U.K. "We've seen
lower defect rates as a result of ISO 9000, and, after examining processes,
implemented a JIT process that more than doubled output from manufacturing.
In addition, employee roles are changing. We're continually asking for staff
input every time we consider a change. For example, we considered eliminating
some jobs and outsourcing an area. The staff showed us how investing in
new machinery could make them more efficient and actually cost less than
outsourcing. Now, they're constantly on the look out to improve their processes
to the benefit of the bottom line."
When would ISO 9000 registration not be a concern? If your customers don't
require it. If none of your competitors are implementing it. If you're not
in a regulated industry that may enforce it. If you already have a quality
system in place. However, any of these parameters can change at any time.
Ultimately, the decision to implement ISO 9000 is a complex one that should
come after careful consideration of the pros and cons. There is no right
answer; there is only the executive level decision to include or not include
registration as part of the corporate strategy. Because it will have an
impact not only on process quality, but on corporate culture, a decision
to implement or not implement ISO 9000 is not one to be taken lightly.