Editor’s comment: Mid March 2018

I just happened to be browsing around LinkedIn over the weekend and I noticed a discussion about the merits of ISO 9000. The poster was questioning if it was really necessary or just something to make letterheads look good! It’s a valid question.

I have a background in this stuff although I’ve not been directly involved with Quality Systems since about 2005 when I started doing this for a living. After finishing my apprenticeship in the mid-1980s I went down the quality route: first as a mechanical inspector, then quality engineer and eventually quality manager for a fibre optic manufacturer and distributor.

There’s no doubt that the early days of BS 5750 – the early forerunner to ISO 9001 – was a bit of a farce, but everything has to start somewhere. Then, quality was the exclusive domain of the inspection department and you controlled it by simply chucking out the bad quality components and making more good ones.

This labour-intensive task often involved large teams of inspectors who spent their days doing first-offs and patrols on the shopfloor or final inspection of finished batches on a sample basis. Shopfloor operators often had a dislike for inspectors: it was very intimidating for me, as a wet behind the ears newly appointed inspector, having to tell a centre lathe turner who had been with the company for 120 years that his work was sub-standard and I’d be scrapping the job. I did fear for my life sometimes.

But that’s how it was. Quality wasn’t controlled in-house at all; it was simply prevented from reaching the customer. Then everything changed. Companies realised that to produce good quality components it was actually best to get everything right first time – and that encompassed the whole process from order entry to despatch and everything in between. Quality now was everyone’s responsibility. Inspectors still had (and indeed have) a vital role to play, but now the pursuit of quality – and responsibility for it – is much more evenly distributed.

In the late 80s, BS 5750 made a half decent attempt to outline the requirements of a Quality System. Problem was that in those early days, most people just developed a Quality and Procedures Manual the size of War and Peace and passed the audit. It did very little to actually safeguard the quality of the product or service being offered.

It’s different now. QMS’ are closely aligned to the business plan and successful implementation demands commitment from all levels of the business from the top down. Properly administered, ISO 9001 should be embedded in the very psyche of a company’s goals, objectives and people. It should provide the basic building blocks of growth, prosperity and ultimately profit.

Because at the end of the day, aren’t we all striving to give customers products and services that are fit for purpose, delivered on-time and are value for money? Going the extra mile is just part of the service!

Dave Tudor Editorial Director