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True, but for manufacturing there are several common-sense gotchas that sometimes just need documenting to make sure they are not forgotten.A great example in the lab where I was an in-house auditor was equipment calibration. ISO 9001 had a blurb about equipment calibration, so someone had to figure out how often certain pieces of equipment needed to be calibrated. Was equipment calibrated before ISO9001? You betcha, but not as regularly as it happened like clockwork after the audits.It won't fix a fundamentally flawed process, but it ensures that the product was made according to that process. For something intangible like software ISO9001 is, IMO, next to useless and should be replaced with something like the CMM model (or whatever it has evolved into).For manufacturing it is a great way to prove people are trained, equipment is calibrated, subcontractors are verified, and the everyone is at least on the same page. The market in general will then tell you if the page everyone is on is worth anything! -Ed
... In all cases the focus was on documenting the procedures and then following the documentation to the letter. Basically, say what you do and do what you say. ...
I'm always curious how companies in the USA look at "standards" or "certified processes" as merit badges to be obtained and then forgot about.ISO 9000 and 9001 are all about principles of management and less about process, although sound management leads to a worthwhile, productive and cost saving process. Edward Demming, an American, taught this to the Japanese back in the 50s. Needless to say, they took to it well. He was rejected by most so called "experts" in US manufacturing during the same time period.Maybe if spa manufacturers took this more seriously, we wouldn't have all the "problems" reported by consumers on this forum? ( I'm sure THAT comment will generate discussion) For more info on ISO, check out this websiteDrewski