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Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Pine Beach, NJ
The authoritative public forum
for Metal Finishing since 1989
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ISO 9000 Certification Q&A's
Q. I have a series of questions that I hope will provoke a good dialogue:
1. Does anyone have any information on how many finishers and finishing suppliers have received ISO 9000 series certification?
2. For those who have done it, or are in the process of getting certified, what are the costs and benefits in real terms. Any dramatic changes in the way you do business because of having gone through the process?
3. My company is currently about one quarter of the way through the process (we think), and I am interested in knowing the most important things you did - the things that helped the most. Was it document review, flow charting your operation, training, or what?
I look forward to any and all responses, good or bad!
Bill Vins
microwave & cable assemblies - Mesa (what a place-a), Arizona
1996
A. Hi Bill,
We are doing ISO 9001 with the registration audit scheduled for 3Q/96. In answer to your questions:
1. ISO 9000 Registered Company Directory: North America
[on
on Amazonaffil links] is a good reference with indexes by SIC code and by company. It is published by Irwin.
2. Once ISO 900x registered, your processes and methods will be well defined and the consistency of your product should improve. Knowing & documenting what is done, and training to insure procedures are followed is the basic concept. No dramatic changes for us, as we were already well documented, but virtually everything was reformatted in some way.
3. I can recall the "1 quarter through" feeling, but that was 6 or 7 quarters ago! (grin). I found flow charting to be a more clear and efficient means to illustrate a process than words in many cases. It is important to have someone on staff or consulting with registration experience to get to the end point correctly.
paint supplier - Houston, Texas
1996
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