Conference 7.286::digital

    ....it's something for those who else would not have a valid job....
    ....based on the two I know is "doing ISO 9000"...
    

    I think it's also being displaced my another methodology....
    
    SEI? SIE? forgot the acronym.....
    
    

    it is not a methodology.. it is a set of standards and working practices.

I was not going to comment on this since it has been discussed in another
note stream but ...

The reason for getting an ISO 9000 license is simple -

IT WILL BE A REQUIREMENT TO DO BUSINESS!

Not having a license cost Digital the chance to even bid on a contract in
Australia.  It will be a requirement to do business with DOD.  In Europe
it will be a requirement to bid after 1/1/93.  Our US customers, like Dow,
are asking for the license now.

But forget all that.  If you follow ISO 9000 (not just the words but the
spirit of the standard), you will improve your quality and the effectiveness
of your processes.  It will improve the way you do business.  It is the
best thing I have seen in 15 years of doing QA.  It puts a process in place
to effect the changes that slogans like "Quality is Job 1" are aimed at.
And last but not least, it says the everyone including the highest level of
management is responsible for the quality not just the QA Department/group.

Couldn't tell I am a believer, could you :-)

Lee G.

    Please check VTX TQM for complete details. Type same at the $ prompt.
    
    
    Ken
    

re: .3

>>    I think it's also being displaced my another methodology....
>>    
>>    SEI? SIE? forgot the acronym.....

	I think you mean 'SEI.'

	This is not 'another methodology' ... and it certainly
	isn't displacing ISO.

	If anything, these programs are complimentary (if people
	communicate!).

	The model, described by SEI (Software Engineering Institute),
	is Software Engineering specific.  Digital's various Continuous
	Process Improvement programs can utilize 'the SEI model,' as
	part of their TQM or Process Improvement efforts.
    
    		Ron

    I read a memo on ISO9000 and immediately called for
    information.....several weeks ago!!!  and have received nothing to
    date.  If this is something we need to know how to do and it will
    improve our competitive edge, where do we get the information?  
    
    I'll read the other note to see if that will give me more info.  I'm
    just annoyed that someone is getting paid to do a job and once again,
    not doing it.
    
    There I said it, and now I feel better!!!
    
    

For better or worst, the ISO Program office was only funded for FY92. So
it went away after July 1.  Some of the folks were transfered to a diff-
erent organization and others when back to their original group.  I
would suggest that you look in the Solvit::DS_E_ISO9k notes conference
for some references.

Lee G.

The ISO9000 data is also known as DEC-STD-012. You may access VTX SMC and 
get a soft copy sent directly to your own file. The data in the DEC-STD is 
virtually extrapolated from the ISO Master File, with their permission. 
Some of Digital's own Engineering, Manufacturing, and Warehouse facilities are 
already under ISO 900* certification. The * is for the specific digit (level) 
of certification. 
NIO (Salem Mfg.) is ISO 9001 certified, as an Engineering facility, due to 
the complex systems involved. ABO is, I believe, ISO 9002 certified, for 
Volume Mfg. WMO(?) ISO 9003 for whse.
The DOD is starting to require/request it, and European Customers are 
demanding it. PacRim will soon start to request it.

Regards,
JMP

    It is DEC-STD_017  not DEC-STD-012.  By the way I believe there is or
    will be some 80-100 Dec sites certified by Jan. 1, 1993.

  re .10

  That should be DEC-STD-017 ... (not 012).

  re .08

  Hope you can find the info you are looking for.  As a minor point of
  information, in particular about 9000, 9001, 9002, 9003.

  Though these standards are generally referred to as "ISO9000," ISO9000
  contains _no_ standards!!  Why?  Because ISO9000 is but an introduction
  to everything which follows (9001, 9002, 9003).

  When sites/segments are ISO certified, they are certified against the
  criteria in 9001, etc.

  As note .10 suggested, different sites have applied for different
  certifications - dependent upon their business.  An ISO 9001 certification
  is all encompassing.  ISO9002 is a subset of the ISO9001 criteria while
  ISO9003 is a subset of ISO9002.

	Regards,
	  Ron

    As an aside, do you think that we should wait until our customers
    acclaim us as an organisation worthy of the TQM tag or announce
    that we are engaged upon an internal 'TQM' programme?
    
    Calvin

    Contact Bill Mahoney (there are 2 Bills - this one is in Parker St) or
    Lydia Henshaw.  They teach both ISO9000 courses - the one for the
    inspectors and one for people who have to work using it.
    
    Joe
    

    Once again, please see .6. It's a place to start.
    
    
    Ken
    

    GSO is cert. ISO 9002

    Of course, being ISO900x compliant is sort of like the siz-sigma
    efforts. By the time a zillion waivers are slipped in, you might as
    well have not bothered. There is still far too much compromising of
    quality for expediency in DEC, and it can only get worse, given the
    tighter budgets, lower staffing etc...
    
    q
    

ISO 9000 (and the other related standards) are to do with Quality Control 
Systems.  In other words, schemes of working that should ensure that other
unspecified quality standards are met. 

It is a popular misconception that ISO 9000 in itself guarantees quality.
That is not true.  It is only true if appropriate quality standards are in
place.  Here in the UK it is rather common for people to say that their 
product quality complies with ISO 9000.  This is garbage as ISO 9000
doesn't specify the quality level at all.  Other manufacturers say that
their products are manufactured using a quality control system that is ISO
9000 certified - this is the correct description. 

As an example, it is perfectly possible for a widget maker to be certified
to ISO 9000 and still produce 10% failing product - this would be the case
if their quality standard said that 10% failures in shipped product were
acceptable.  While it is very unlikely that anyone would have such a low
standard it is not impossible.  However, if the ISO 9000 certified widget
maker said that his product has a 1 PPM failure rate the quality system
would be used to ensure that the failure rate was not higher. 

jb

    
    
    This editorial appeared in DESIGN NEWS dated 20-Jul-1992
    
    Better Than A Baldridge, by Lawrence Maloney, Chief Editor

                            
    To their credit, many U.S. forms are chasing the Commerce Department's
    coveted Malcom Baldridge National Quality Award. But more beneficial
    to a broader range of companies is another measure of product
    excellence - ISO 9000 certficifation. Just ask engineers at Grayhill,
    Inc. a LaGrange, IL, producer of electronic components. Grayhill
    recently received certficiation under ISo 9001, the most comprehensive
    of the ISO 9000 series, since it is concerned with design/development,
    manufacturing, product installation, and customer service.
    
    Recognized as a quality standard by more than 90 countries, ISO
    certification is fast becoming essential for U.S. firms that hope
    to sell into Europe. Beginning in 1993, European Community directives
    require ISO certification of prime contractors in key industries.
     Many such companies, in turn, will insist that their suppliers
    be certfieid under ISO. In the U.S., too, ISO certification is being
    adopted as a basic quality standard by the U.S Department of Defense,
    as well as by many major OEMs.
    
    Certification is by no means a snap. It took Grayhill 4,000 hours
    to prepare its new quality systems documentation, whixh was reviewed
    in an on-site visit by a certification agency. Periodic mini-audits
    also will follow during the initial certficiation period, which
    usually lasts three or four years. But Brian May, Grayhill's manager
    of marketing and applications engineering, says the benefits far
    outweigh preparation time and certfication fees, which vary from
    $10,000 to $200,000, depending on company size and numbver of plants
    certified. "The ISO quality assurance procedures and unifomr
    engineering documentation will make you a better company." says
    May. A company with ISO certification, he adds, may also be spared
    many of the costly and time-consuming quality audit visits from
    customer companies each year.
    
    What Grayhill has discovered is that ISO 9000 offers an ongoing
    quality assurance system recognized the world over. And this is
    more valuable than the passing glory of a Baldridge...
    
                                             Larry Maloney