ISO 9000 - Executive Newsletter (March 2000)

CONTENTS

The Big Picture
ISO 9000 at Work
ISO 9000 Implementation
Reference Information
Your Feedback

Executive Newsletter -
The ISO 9000 Quality Management System
March 2000 Issue

"Quality isn't something that can be argued into an article or promised into it. It must be put there. If it isn't put there, the finest sales talk in the world won't act as a substitute." C. G. Campbell

A summary of Web information sources to help organizations understand, implement and maintain an ISO 9000 Quality Management System. Prepared by Innovation Business Services

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The Big Picture

Measuring Quality's Return on Investment - Is your quality system earning it's keep? More than 500,000 organizations worldwide have established formal quality systems based on the popular ISO 9000 series of standards. Many of them have maintained their quality systems for five years or more. In light of an increased focus on quality and customer satisfaction, executive managers have raised the question: Are quality-related efforts worth their cost? In other words, what is quality's return on investment? The answer to this question is unique for every organization and is based on two fundamental conditions:

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Quality Org

'Economic benefits of standardization' This was the title of the seminar held in the 'open session' during CEN's General Assembly in Prague at the end of September. The economic benefits of standardization are not generally questioned by industrial organizations, which devote by far the largest share in money and resources to the drafting of standards and, subsequently, their application on the shop floor and in their businesses. But budget lines for standardization are constantly scrutinized by company managers. The issue concerns standards bodies themselves when they have to justify their existence, as well as national authorities which also contribute to the funding of standardization.

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ISO 9000 at Work

DRS ELECTRO-OPTICAL SYSTEMS FACILITY RECEIVES ISO-9001 CERTIFICATION Parsippany, NJ, December 10 --DRS Technologies, Inc. (ASE: DRS) announced today that its DRS Optronics, Inc. unit, located in Palm Bay, Florida, has been certified by internationally accredited registrar NSF - International Strategic Registrations Ltd. to be fully compliant with ISO-9001 requirements. DRS Optronics designs and manufactures high-quality precision electro-optical systems and assemblies primarily for the military aerospace market, including laser range finders, fire control systems, night vision devices, weapons sighting systems and infrared optics. NSF - International Strategic Registrations has certified that DRS Optronics' quality control system meets all of the requirements of the International Organization for Standards' ISO-9001 Quality System Standard. This standard ensures that the company has the procedures and work processes in place to consistently design and supply high-quality conforming products.

ISO 9000 QUALITY SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT from Innovation Business Services

Software Is Key to Goodyear Chemical ISO Compliance Today, in an environment where the supply of natural rubber is declining, and where the global demand for tires is increasing, Goodyear Chemical (Akron, OH) is expanding its capacity to produce synthetic rubber. Its chemicals and rubbers are used in a diverse range of products, including golf balls, latex gloves, paints, and automotive belts and hoses. According to Joe Croston, quality assurance manager (shown here), Goodyear Chemical, compliance management software has improved the workflow system with regard to time and efficiency.

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Reference Information

Sources of Standards Documents

Worldwide ISO Membership

- A list of all the Global Members of ISO

Your Country's Representative

Contact information for purchasing all ISO Standards including ISO 9000.

REGISTRARS ON THE WEB

International ISO 9000 Database

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ISO Implementation

Guidance on interpretation and implementation

Internal Quality System Audits Protocols, procedures and the approach to an internal audit should be the same as that applied during an external assessment. As well as ensuring compliance, this approach familiarises the staff with the correct style of audit and builds confidence when faced with the " show me? " approach to questioning. New skills may be needed to ensure that the managers understand and become familiar with the role of the audit and programme, to remove the fear and resistance commonly associated with audit activities.

See what
the ISO Man
has to say this month

A New & Improved ISO 9000 With the ISO 9000:2000 draft review process moving into its last phase, there has been a sudden increase of interest in the scope and interpretation of the new requirements. Registrars, auditors, consultants and course providers are all under pressure to develop their positions on specific, technical issues. Companies using ISO 9000 quality systems are also growing impatient as they wait to find out what they'll need to do to upgrade their systems. The most visible changes are in the structure of the ISO 9000 family of standards and in the sectional organization of the ISO 9001 standard. New requirements are predominantly in the areas of customer-related processes and continual improvement. There are also miscellaneous new requirements pertaining to process control, measuring and monitoring devices, training and awareness, internal communication, work environment, and legal and regulatory requirements.

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