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Subject:Quality docs (was Re value etc) From:Damien Braniff <dbraniff -at- iss-dsp -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Tue, 28 Nov 2000 08:52:23 +0000
Going off at a slight tangent here but still quite relevant I think.
Some time ago now things were very quiet on the TW front here so I
decided to add a few strings to my bow and went back to college to study
quality (ISO 9000 etc) and something one of the lecturers said really
stuck in my mind.
Basically he said that most people didn't understand the issuel. He
said there were standards for hardness of steel etc but that ISO9000
(the thing everyone had to have!) wasn't about quality at all but was a
Management System that dealt with consistency. You document what you DO,
then look at how it can be improved and document that and repeat. It's
a process of change toward better quality. If you have ISO 9000 and
produce crap then all it means is that you'll consistently produce crap.
I think the point Andrew is trying to make is that because a system is
consistent doesn't make it good.
Good work + poor system = poor output
Good work + good system = good output
poor work + good system = poor output
poor work + poor system = poor output
Here the 'poor outputs' are not all the same and could be graded but I'd
maintain that if we're not producing the best possible for the customer
(taking into account relevant circumstances - need it yesterday!) then
we're not doing a good job. This is immaterial to what the 'system' is
be it single source or whatever.
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