Q Are
there any disadvantages to adopting ISO9000 requirements?
A There
are a considerable number of bad ISO9000 systems in existence. You may hear
horror stories about how a company is burdened with a resource hungry ISO 9000
system, or which is a bureaucratic nightmare. These stories are probably true,
unfortunately.
Unfortunately, there are a lot of very
bad so-called "ISO9000 Consultants" around who fail to grasp even a
hint of what ISO 9000 actually requires. They may be paid on a daily basis, so
they take as long as possible to create the system. Or they may just not have a
clue (there are plenty of both types, it seems).
Certification Bodies are forbidden from
giving advice as to whether or not your system is cumbersome or not (they may
find ways to hint at it, though). If they gave such advice, how could they be
impartial when they conduct their assessments?
If you have an ISO9000 system which is a burden to you, we
can help.
Purchasing one of my "How
to...." CDs is a good way to learn a lot about ISO9000 and help to avoid
bureaucratic nightmares.
If you follow the requirements of
ISO9000 in a sensible way, then you should reap benefits. I am pleased to say
that just about all of our Clients have consistently grown in size and become more profitable
since being associated with my organization. (OK, three have retired and sold
up, and two have bought each other out, but I don't think that affects this
claim, as the value of their companies had risen steeply!).
We try to ensure that we follow
the requirements of ISO9000
ourselves. There are times when we think "Why are we recording this
information?", but always (ALWAYS!) we're glad that we did, at a later
stage.