Preparation of ISO 9000 Certification Documentation

A total of 20 quality standards officer at small-sized and medium-sized manufacturing firms that market their products globally were selected for the research sample for this study. One-half of the firms represented in the sample were among those firms that had already received ISO 9000 certification, while the remaining 10 firms were among those firms that had not yet submitted ISO 9000 certification documentation. The perceptions of representatives of both sample groups were compared to both (1) assess the understandability and ease of use of the ISO 9000 Style Guidelines Handbook developed as a part of this study and (2) assess the probability that the use of the Style Guidelines would enhance the likelihood of success of an ISO 9000 certification application.

Two research questions were investigated. Research question number one was answered positively: the style guidelines are readable and usable for firms seeking ISO 9000 certification. Research question number two also was answered positively: the style guidelines are an effective aid for firms seeking ISO 9000 certification.

Those firms that have gone through the certification process recognize the potential value of a set of style guidelines for use in the preparation of ISO 9000 certification documentation. Tho

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flicting goals and priorities often mean that quality takes a back seat, once the big announcement is made of a company's renewed emphasis on quality. While the Deming system of quality control demands a commitment from the highest management levels, it depends upon the participation of personnel from all levels of the organization involved in the production process. Participation means more than input from production workers. It also means that managers must be a part of the production process, as opposed to being separated from it. Full participation also is essential for ISO 9000 registration. CQI is based on the work of Genichi Taguchi. Taguchi was the principal developer of the CQI concept. Taiichi Ohno, former vice-president of Toyota Motor Corporation, was quoted as saying that: "Whatever an executive thinks the losses of poor quality are, they are actually six times greater." Quality is achieved primarily through design, because quality "is a virtue of design." Customers are not interested in the extent to which a product meets production specifications. Thus, the "zero defects" approach to quality employed by most American manufacturers fails to address directly the concerns of the customer. By contrast wit
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Approximate Word count = 5991
Approximate Pages = 24 (250 words per page)