The subject of the
2000 revision of ISO 9000 is hot! There are plenty of places on the
World Wide Web where you can find discussion about questions such as:
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"Why did they use this terminology?"
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"Where does this 1994 clause fit?"
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"How will we need to modify our system?"
Now, we think that the people responsible for the the revised version have made an honest attempt to ensure that ISO 9000:2000 has a better relationship to business improvement than does the 1994 version.
We do have a number of criticisms of ISO 9000:2000 and the way it is presented, such as the ambiguous role of ISO 9004 and the continued emphasis on 'conformance' to the content of just 12 pages [9001, clauses 4 through 8], while downplaying much of the more valuable and fundamental content in the remaining 90-odd pages. But it takes a long step in the right direction.
However, we reckon that questions like those above miss the point, and we have decided to stay out of such discussions.
We prefer to focus on another, more fundamental, question:
"What can we DO to take advantage of moving to ISO 9000:2000 to improve 'quality' in our organisation and to ensure that we get business benefit?"
To help answer that question we have taken three initiatives:
| Workshops | Free Information | On-line Conference |
The Workshops are sponsored by Member organisations. Many thanks to Steecase Strafor, Prudential Assurance, Oracle, and the AA for events already run. Further Workshops are planned for the coming months.
Each Workshop looks at practical and realistic ways to apply ISO 9000:2000 to revitalise quality in the organisation; to get people more positively motivated about the 'QMS'; and to use to advantage the structure and business process emphasis of the 2000 revision.
Click here to find details of these and other planned Workshops.
Note: these workshops are currently available only in the UK. Depending on demand, they will be run in other countries - so let us know if you are interested!
Information
We think that the 'proof of continual improvement' plank of ISO 9000:2000 is key, reflecting as it does a realistic view of quality, and emphasising 'getting better and better' as opposed to the rather daunting mantras of 'zero defects' or 'getting it right first time every time'.
The continual improvement related information we are gathering together is freely available to anyone registering on this site. Registration is simple. There is no fee.
We intend to buld up a valuable reference library of straightforward information, driven mainly from the practical experience of managers who have figured out how to turn the theories of 'quality' and 'business excellence' into the realities of continually improving results.
Conference
The purpose of the conference is to debate what management can DO to get more from ISO 9000. It is NOT intended to discuss whether ISO 9000 is a good or a bad thing - we will leave that to other forums!
You can catch up with the conference and also sign up to contribute to it here
News (30 January 2002): the above conference has run out of steam a bit but we are close to establishing a new conference with the help of The British Quality Foundation. Meanwhile, a more lively set of ISO 9000-related discussions is under way here
More news (5 February 2002): we have initiated another conference, debating problems with ISO 9000:2000. It experienced 500 hits on its first full day.
It uses Quick Topic technology and is very easy to use - no registration or password malarkey! Make your contribution here
Even more news (17 February 2002): as a spin-off from the above conference, there is now a discussion on processes and procedures here.