With the proliferation of companies claiming to conform to
the requirements of this international Standard, we might
well come to believe that product and service quality has
reached its peak and every customer is satisfied with the
performance of their ISO9000 registered supplier. On the
other hand we could have simply misunderstood the purpose
of this Standard and the registration process. Maybe the
Standard isn't about quality of service or product.
The current (year 2000) version of ISO90001 is clearly
focussed on the definition of a Quality Management System.
This is by convention the mechanism by which an
organisation defines and manages the quality of its output
delivery. This current document is the latest in a series
of ISO Standards devoted to the topic, and shortly to be
replaced by a 2008 version - but not just yet. These
Standards can trace their direct history back to the middle
of the last century, these having antecedents with origins
certainly back to the early 20th Century.
Originating within the manufacturing industry, and until
comparatively recently predominantly focussed there, their
original objective was to control the manufacturing
processes so as to correct the errors endemic within the
ethos of working class operatives. It was a 'given' that
product (and now service) errors occurred due to the nature
and attitudes of the workers employed. Seldom was it
considered possible that errors and omissions - i.e.
defects, could be related to the management or management
methods employed within the industry. Standards were
therefore developed with the sole purpose of identifying
and correcting failings before they became a problem for
the customer, or servicing the customer need for corrective
action after delivery. E.g. warrantee. The current ISO
9000 philosophy is founded on the strategy Plan Do Check
Act, and for Act we can reasonably say 'Fix' - although
this isn't how Act is normally explained in the publicity
blurb. Clearly this is an implied acknowledgement of
potential failure, rather than a strategy to avoid failure.
For those who doubt this is correct, consider how often you
have heard the expression - it must be a Monday morning or
Friday afternoon product. Maybe partly in jest, but
originating from the concept that workers generally don't
care, and systems have to be devised to put right what
they, the workers, do wrong.
As the years have gone by, the Standards have developed and
their presentation has changed to a less prescriptive form,
but underneath lies the same concept, that all work is
prone to error, and management planning must recognise this
and act accordingly. The possibility that work of any
nature could routinely be performed 'error free' has no
place within this or any other Standard.
This failure to recognise what is both a major weakness and
an opportunity is not confined to Standards makers, but is
endemic in much of industry and commerce. A major supplier
of domestic kitchen fitments has recently conceded that
they have increased the investment in their after sales
service operation - in other words, in the rectification
processes following a new installation. The possibility
that the money could have been spent solving the cause of
the problem rather than correcting it does not seem to have
been considered. Is it any wonder that organisations
continue to believe that the ISO Standards are useful only
in the context of enhancing the marketing image of the
company?
Earlier in the 20th Century the managers of quality systems
became besotted with so-called statistical data gathering
and presentation. Based on a lifetime of belief-reinforcing
experience that compelled them to believe in the
inevitability of error and failure in any work process,
they persuaded their masters to support the concept of
Acceptable Quality Level (AQL). This term, when used in a
truly statistical situation, is a reliable method of
predicting the quality of a batch through the examination
of a smaller sample. As applied within industry it
generally became a justification for accepting the inferior
in both service and product delivery. This then has
developed into the League Table idiocy driven by government
and their civil servants that contains the tacit acceptance
of less than perfect work performance, so long as there are
those whose performance is deemed inferior to the current
product or service examination. League tables are a failure
because they support the inevitability of failure. This is
a failure to recognise the fact that the present situation
arises from a historic perspective of work and culture,
along with the absence of the realisation that it doesn't
have to be like it is. To quote a 20th Century Guru -
Philip Crosby, 'It costs no more to do the job right than
it costs to do it wrong and then again'. Quality is Free!
So, as we look to the coming of yet another ISO Standard
for a quality management system, what are the prospects of
a turn-round in philosophy, and a drive for Error-Free
working?
Don't hold your breath!
----------------------------------------------------
Meon Consulting, founded by Ed Bones, was formed to assist
clients with managing their businesses in a manner
compliant with ISO9001/14001. Ed had earlier held a number
of senior posts with Hi-Tech companies in the UK, Europe
and the USA. He has written and lectured on full range of
topics on quality improvement and TQM.
http://www.rent-an-auditor.co.uk.To obtain your FREE
Presentation please visit
http://www.rent-an-auditor.co.uk/contactus.html
No comments:
Post a Comment