RE ISO-9000

["James F. Piper" <piperjf -at- IBM -dot- NET>]

I have been a consultant for technical writing and/or
instructional design for several companies that became
ISO-9000 certified.  In doing this I have made several
observations.
1. The chemical and petrochemical industries do not feel
that ISO is a fad that will soon fade.  They have discovered
that the steps needed to become certified are the best
business practices they could use, so even companies that
don?t plan to sell to Europe go through the process of
certification.
2. While it is true that the auditing companies are more
interested in the documentation of the process than the
process itself, their reasoning is logical.  It is much
easier to ensure that the procedure uses the accepted
practices of the industry than learn the specifics of that
process.   Even an engineer would have to spend months
learning about the specific process being audited, that?s if
the company would provide all the information needed..
3. Procedures and training are seldom the reason that
companies do not become certified.  The usual cause is that
some people within the organization being audited do not
have the attitude needed to become certified.  If EVERYONE
within the organization does not buy-in the ISO-9000 process
the site can?t become certified.  That is probably the major
reason it takes 18 months from wanting to become certified
until final certification.
4. One item of interest is that the writing and training
requirements for ISO-9000 are very similar to the
requirements of OSHA for Process Safety Management and the
EPA?s Risk Management Plan.

Jim Piper
Training Design Associates
piperjf@ ibm.net