ISO 9001:2000 Quality Registration Step by Step (3rd ed.)

Citation

Narasimhan, K. (2005), "ISO 9001:2000 Quality Registration Step by Step (3rd ed.)", Measuring Business Excellence, Vol. 9 No. 2, pp. 76-76. https://doi.org/10.1108/13683040510602911

10.1108/13683040510602911Fred Dobb, a Fellow of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers, worked with the Royal Ordnance Factories and was a Regional Director of CQA, one of the oldest accredited certification bodies. He has experience in manufacturing, service, and other industries and became a Registered Lead Assessor in 1989. Now, he is one of the commercial managers at United Registrar of Systems and, hence, has the right credentials to write a book on this topic.

The book comprises nine chapters and seven Appendices. The chapters are short and Appendices form the bulk of the book (202 pages against 75 pages for the main text). The first three chapters deal respectively with the importance of economy and timescale for the projects; the various reasons for seeking ISO 9001 registration; and the basic principles underpinning ISO 9001:2000. A total of 15 steps that lead to successful registration to the standard, excluding the design element, are covered in some depth in chapter 4. Useful detailed guidelines for covering this aspect are provided in Appendix F. Fred opines that it takes six to 15 months to complete the project and achieve successful registration.

Chapters 5 to 7 respectively provide notes on writing the Quality Policy Manual, writing the Operating Procedures, and training internal auditors. In describing the nine steps in documenting the operating procedures to satisfy the policy requirements, Fred recommends the use of the five “W”s (what, why, when, where, and who) and an “H” (how). The nine areas described are contract review, purchasing, process control and in‐process inspection, control of materials, control of measuring and processing equipment, training, management review and internal audits, document and data control, and records.

The final two short chapters focus on the role of the quality assurance (QA) manager and the relationship between ISO 9000 and TQM, and advice on selecting QA consultants.

Appendix A provides useful names, addresses and telephone numbers of seven leading certification bodies; and Appendix B gives practical definitions and explanation of terms. The significant differences between ISO 9000:2000 and the 1994 version and the possible implications for an organization are tabulated in Appendix C. Appendix D and E respectively provide draft models of a Quality Policy Manual (26 pages) and Operating Procedures (126 pages). In Appendix G, two‐page notes on process‐based quality management system, Fred opines that the new standard has exactly the same contents but in a slightly different order with some new significant bits added.

The book is easy to read and the detailed examples are an asset. Electronic forms of the templates included in the Appendices are provided on a password‐protected web site at: www.elsevier.com/manuals/0750649496