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On Sunday, Sept 22, E. Kertz writes:
IMHO, ISO 9000 seems like a fad, at least here in the US. It is
probably much more important in Europe.
> Have any of you been involved with ISO 9000, either from a
> participatory or tech writing standpoint? I would
> be interested in hearing about your successes and failures.
My view: I don't believe that ISO 9000 is a fad in North America. Since
1992, I've actively participated in ISO 9000 certification and written
documentation to meet ISO standards.
ISO 9000 reminds me of the proverbial pebble in a pond -- it has a ripple
effect that impacts numerous types of businesses.
Standards are particularly important to a manufacturing company. Once a
manufacturer becomes certified the ripple effect is -- that any company
they purchase from will eventually have to become certified. The belief
is (in my understanding): if a company is ISO 9000 certified they will
have the same stringent standards as we do -- therefore, their material
will be top quality.
Even if a company doesn't have ISO 9000 certification yet, it's better to
plan for the future. If your documentation doesn't meet ISO documentation
standards, your company or your client will have to re-do their
documentation should they decide to obtain certification.
My recommendation: Start setting up your documentation NOW to meet ISO
documentation standards. If your company decides to go for certification
-- you'll be ahead of the game and won't have to revisit all of your
documentation.
ISO 9000 isn't going away.
For more discussion of this topic, please contact me directly.
Deb Newman
Opinions expressed here are my own -- not those of my company!
dnewman -at- sierrasys -dot- com
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