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> ISO provides a theoretical structure, but it still comes down
> to individuals doing their jobs. If the people in those jobs
> slack off, fail to do the inspections, and just sign the
> paperwork, then the QA plan is just a waste of trees.
> (Or magnetic coating on disks...)
[excellent rant deleted]
> Thats my soapbox. My asbestos underwear is on. Comments, anyone?
> Rick Lippincott
> rjlippincott -at- delphi -dot- com
Hear, hear! Except that the decision makers don't listen, let alone
hear. But for the amusement of the people who care...
A little bird told me about a company that had just been awarded
the first level of ISO-9000 certification, and was on the way to
the next. An executive wrote a confidential memo detailing 19
points of non-compliance in the latest ISO-9000 audit, including
the lack of document control procedures and slackness in following
such procedures as did exist. He sent this memo to the laser printer,
where...
An administrative assistant was printing out an "Emergency Rush"
version of a user manual for a Very Important Customer. The
confidential memo showed up between chapters of the manual, so
she gave it to the executive, asking him not to use that printer
for a while. He forgot, and she had no way of knowing, that he
had sent a SECOND copy of the memo into the print queue, when the
first one didn't appear soon enough.
She hastily gathered up the user manual pages and dashed them
to the printing house, for 50 copies ASAP to be Fed-Ex-ed...
No time to check the pages, etc.
You've probably guessed how the story goes, but the ending is
actually a little happier. The document had visible gibberish
because it was printed on a machine without all the necessary
fonts, and someone noticed that after the 50 copies were made,
but before they were sent. Maybe it would have done the company
some good to have sent the Very Important Customer documented
proof of the corporate ineptitude, but that didn't happen. Yet.
I mourn the loss of the library at Alexandria, but sometimes the
rationale for its destruction is actually applicable, as in:
If the ISO documents purport to obviate the need for individual
commitment to good work, burn them, for they are blaphemous.
If the ISO documents simply reiterate the need for individual
commitment to good work, burn them, for they are superfluous.
Ray Bruman In this establishment,
Raynet Corp. we DO NOT DISCUSS
rbruman -at- raynet -dot- com race, religion, politics, "Quality" programs,
415-688-2325 or nutrition.
