Re: ISO 9000

[Scott Turner <sturner -at- METRONET -dot- COM>]

In article <2FE8559F -at- ncr02>, "Delaney, Misti"
<ncr02!ncr02!mdelaney -at- ucs01 -dot- attmail -dot- com> wrote:

> Well, the boss sprang a new one on us in this morning's meeting.  He wants
> us to move toward becoming ISO 9000 compliant -- soonest!  I could have seen
> this one coming, given that

> a) this boss is striving to bring our company standards forward into the
> 1970's, and
> b) references on the net to ISO 9000 have been frequent and positive.

> My questions are

> a) What *exactly* does ISO 9000 mean in the world of documentors?
> b) Does anyone out there have a recommendation for introductory books or
> other references that will help get our dox team started?

> Thanks!

> Misti
> ncr02!mdelaney -at- attmail -dot- com

Bad News/Good News!

ISO 9000 can mean absolutely nothing to your docs, or it can be everything.

The crux of the matter is this:  What does your docs have to do in the
"design" or "manufacturing" of the product. In most cases, docs are not
primary parts of the documentation. You are also going to have to see what
level you are to be certified under: ISO 9001, 9002, or 9003?

If you read the ISO 9000 books the first thing that you become aware of is
that these standards are very loose guidelines for a quality procedure. In
other words, depending upon how you write your quality procedures you are
your own worst enemy.

If you write your procedures in an intelligent manner that can be
followed, then you will not have much impact on your daily work.

Scott

--
Scott Turner        sturner -at- metronet -dot- com
Fax: 214-242-1083
Voice:  214-323-5532

CSI, Inc. disavows all of the silly notions put forth by this writer!