ISO 9000: Alive and well
Industrial distributors should continue to embrace ISO 9000 as a management tool
By John Duffy -- Industrial Distribution, 3/1/2000
Much has been written about the ever-changing challenges facing industrial distributors, including the challenge of ensuring long-term profitability. ISO 9000 offers distributors a sound quality framework, which they can use as a springboard to reach their profitability goals.It has been some thirteen years since ISO 9000 first appeared. Worldwide registrations continue to grow. The International Standards Organization in Geneva recently announced that 271,966 registration certificates had been issued in 143 countries by the end of 1998, an increase of almost 22 percent over 1997. In spite of these statistics, many industrial distributors still feel the certification process is too expensive.
As the president of a multi-branch industrial distributorship specializing in cutting tools, which has been ISO 9002 certified for almost three years, I believe there are many benefits to certification, including: increased sales and productivity; improvements in customer satisfaction; employee training and management control; marketing leverage; and most importantly, increased profits. Of course, the success of any ISO 9000 effort requires management's full commitment.
It's widely understood that quality systems are a path not a goal: ISO 9000 simply provides organizations with tools to improve themselves.
Do the same old issues fester in your management meetings and never seem to go away? Do you leave with renewed efforts to fix the problem, only to rehash it at the next meeting?
If so, ISO 9000 is for your company. Because the ISO-required quality manual outlines company procedures and work instructions, we can no longer assume that employees know procedures. Furthermore, ISO 9000 standardizes procedures for multi-branch distributors. The certification process keeps companies on a path of continuous improvement by requiring internal audits, corrective and preventive action requests, and management reviews.
It's worthwhile to mention that the ISO 9000 standard is in the midst of an overhaul. ISO protocols currently require that all standards be reviewed at least every five years. The 1994 versions of the ISO 9000 standards are currently being revised by ISO's Technical Committee (TC 176) for publication later this year. The standard will be simplified from five primary standards (ISO 9000, 9001, 9002, 9003 & 9004) to three (ISO 9000, 9001 & 9004). The ISO Web site, http://www.iso.ch, provides general information on the ISO 9000:2000 revision program. If you are currently planning to become registered, it is highly recommended to consult with your registrar regarding available options. Already certified organizations should consult with their registrar and develop a transition strategy to upgrade their quality system to the new standard.
One of the challenges of ISO 9000 for distributors is how to effectively measure quality. Many distributors must learn to use some rather simple methods of measuring quality over time, such as customer satisfaction surveys, trends in customer returns, credits, on-time shipments, etc. The slippery slope with ISO 9000 is that once you start measuring stuff, you need related procedures and work instructions that you then must follow.
Regardless of the size of your company, whether you're a general line or specialty distributor, I'm convinced that ISO 9000 provides a framework for becoming a better company, which will lead to increased profits. In our increasingly global economy, it is a quality system recognized worldwide. It is alive and well and growing.
John Duffy is the president and ISO 9000 management rep. of Triumph Tool Ltd., in Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
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