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Subject:Re: ISO 9000 -- seeming to be, and not to be... From:QMS Account <Robert -dot- Morrisette -at- EBAY -dot- SUN -dot- COM> Date:Fri, 23 Sep 1994 09:49:46 +0800
I've been creating an on-line system to meet ISO 9001 requirements.
80% of the "dings" found by ISO auditors are documentation problems.
The person doing a task in the office or factory must have a procedure
or work instruction to follow. That procedure must be the latest revision.
Using paper procedures is not practical in a large organization because
of the complex documentation control requirements. When a procedure is
revised, everyone using it has to have the new revision. Someone has
to maintain the latest revs and the revs back a few generations.
You will buy lots of filing cabinets.
On-line doc eliminates most of these problems. Revisions are updated
for everyone at the same instant. You can hyperlink to references in
other documents, create indexes, searches, etc. Users can print documents,
but printed documents are uncontrolled and marked as uncontrolled.
We use FrameMaker 4 and FrameViewer for our system.
Writers should understand how to create an ISO manual, procedures,
work instructions, and supporting documents to meet ISO requirements.
Remember to KIS. Interviewing skills are important. Some writers use
Process Mapping to help create procedures. (a whole new subject)
Surveys show that almost all who complete ISO show increased product
quality and customer satisfaction. 80% said that ISO registration
influenced their choice of suppliers.
A short description of ISO:
"Say what you do, but do what you say."
King Hammurabi was the first to enforce quality standards.
Inn-keepers were executed if they served poor-quality beer.
Bob Morrisette
Documentation Consultant and Bon vivant
control -at- qms -dot- EBay -dot- Sun -dot- COM
