Standards, as we all know, are the driving force to place order within any organization regardless of the scope used.

As the Quality Assurance Manager within a small (100 employee) machine shop, we rely upon several standards to guide our business activities. The ISO 9000:2000 standards define our business structures and some of the quality standards. Additionally, we have adopted segments of the QS9000 and ISO16949 standards and written them into our Quality Procedures to further refine our systemic controls for business and manufacturing activities.

The additions of these selected components have provided a more effective reporting system and reduced the cost of operations.

I am sure some are asking, "Why not register to either of these standards in full?" The answer is simple. The costs of implementing and maintaining standards that do not fully augment our business activities add cost to the operations rather than refine them. By adopting these selected components to our ISO 9000 program, we are able to meet the needs of our customers without the extra burden of additional cost and still remain competitive.

The net result is that our customers are satisfied with the products, the design of our systems and the ability of our organization to be flexible enough to meet the changing conditions of the day. It is a winning situation for all.

Internally, the workforce is satisfied by the effectiveness of the system, its speed of response to wants and needs. Regular review of the standards is made to consider their effectiveness, not redundancy. This evolution ensures continual improvement and since it involves everyone in the organization, it is fully supported. The corrective action procedures provide us with the framework for reviewing the standards, not only of processing but supply as well.

Additionally, our clients are asked to perform audits to evaluate the systems. This procedure has been beneficial in that some of our practices have been changed to suit mutual needs and some of our clients have similarly reviewed and altered their standards for improvement within their own organizations.

Failure to utilize these standards would move us backward; an unacceptable situation. Support of all within the organization has resulted in a competitive edge not seen prior to registration.

Standards have provided us with a disciplined approach and expanded our freedoms to do business.