ISO9000 and Total Quality Managemn

[Chuck Banks <chuck -at- ASL -dot- DL -dot- NEC -dot- COM>]

Chris,

        You have realized on your own what some companies have
learned only by spending tons of money for outside help in the
ISO 9000 preparations.

        ISO 9xxx standards basically ask two questions:

                1 - Do you have a quality assurance system
                    documented?

                2 - Are you actually doing what your quality
                    assurance documents say you do?

        ISO 9xxx standards don't specify a particular type of
quality assurance system.  They just require that you walk
what you talk.  That's all.

        One consultant firm, WJC Designs, Brainerd, MN, ensures
companies pass ISO 9xxx inspections by coming into the company,
surveying how they do their jobs, assembling copies of their
policies and procedures, meeting with the customer management
to determine which way they want to go:  make the books match
the company (by far the fastest and simplest solution) or make
the company match the books (usually not too smart an idea as
the books are usually woefully out of date), and carrying out
the customer's selection by developing a plan for company change
or by updating or rewriting existing policies and procedures.

        Wes Chase, the head honcho at WJC Designs, gave a
barn burner of a presentation at the Society for Technical
Communication annual conference this year.  He claims, and
if he's got the bodies to back them up I believe the claims,
any company can, with his company's help, get ISO 9xxx certified
within 12 to 18 months.  Some of his clients have succeeded in
as little as 9 months, but their houses were already pretty
well in order, they just didn't know it or how to present it
to the inspectors.

        If you would like to talk with WJC Designs, their
address is as follows:

                WJC Designs
                10990 Nokay Lake Road NE
                Brainerd, MN  56401

                Phone:  800-452-9239 (voice or fax)
                        218-764-2787/2788

        By the way, according to Wes Chase's handouts, WJC Designs
will do the job for you, plan for you to do the job, or train your
people to plan and do the job.  As he said in the presentation,
what you choose will probably depend on how much time you've got
before the inspectors arrive.

        I passed a thumbnail description of the presentation and
the handouts to my supervisor, my manager, and our Quality Assurance
Director.  They didn't hire WJC Designs, but they did stop their
attempts at reinventing the wheel.  We're currently updating our
quality system policies and proceedures to match existing conditions.
The front office has seen what we're doing and they seem pleased.
We'll see if the inspectors agree.

I hope this helps.

Chuck Banks
--
__        ________     ______
|\\   |  ||          //              Chuck Banks
| \\  |  ||_______  ||               Senior Technical Writer
|  \\ |  ||         ||               NEC America, Inc.
|   \\|   \\______   \\______        E-Mail:      chuck -at- asl -dot- dl -dot- nec -dot- com
America, Incorporated                CompuServe:  72520,411