Vol. 3, No. 3 – May-June 2003
ISSN 1680-8096
Publicité JQA
1 page
2
ISO Management Systems – May-June 2003
Publicité AMADEUS
1 page
ISO Management Systems – May-June 2003
3
Publicité JMH
1/2 page
Publicité BVQI
1/2 page
4
ISO Management Systems – May-June 2003
Co n t e nt s
Contents
6 Editorial – ISO’s magic spell
ISO INSIDER
p. 15
Viewpoint
IMS interviews ISO’s new
Secretary-General
Alan Bryden : “ ISO is in the forefront of
providing the economic and social players
with reference documents to disseminate
progress, demonstrate performance and
facilitate international trade.”
p. 19
Special Report
The auto sector – ‘ISOmobile! ’
Eight of every 10 cars to run on
ISO 9001:2000 by 2006
By the end of 2006, as many as eight out of
every 10 cars and trucks produced around
the world will contain parts or components
that have been designed, manufactured and
sold under an ISO 9001:2000-based quality
management system.
p. 41
International
Japanese survey reveals
timescale and benefits
of ISO 9001:2000 transition
“ How long does it take to transition from
ISO 9001:1994 to ISO 9001:2000 ? ” and
“ What are the challenges and the benefits ? ” This article provides answers to these
and related questions gleaned from a recent
survey of 630 companies in Japan that made
the upgrade.
9 Revising ISO 14001 and ISO 14004
12 International benchmark for personnel
certification schemes
13 New ISO/IEC guide aims to improve
VIEWPOINT
SPECIAL RE PORT
efficiency of international trade
15 IMS interviews ISO’s new Secretary-General
19 Management
systems in
the automotive
sector
ISOmobile!
Eight of every
10 cars to run
on ISO
9001:2000 by
2006
24 Is certification
paying for
automotive
manufacturers ?
31 How Japan’s car manufacturers rate
ISO 9000 and ISO 14000
37 Finland’s Volvo network and the environ-
INTERNATIONAL
ment benefit from country-wide
ISO 14001 certification
41 Japanese survey reveals timescale and
benefits of ISO 9001:2000 transition
49 Managing organizational change
Part 5 – Communication and change
58 Next issue
ISO MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS is published six times a year by the Central Secretariat of ISO (International Organization for
Standardization) and is available in English, French and Spanish editions. Publisher: ISO Central Secretariat, 1, rue de Varembé,
Case postale 56, CH-1211 Geneva 20, Switzerland. Tel. + 41 22 749 01 11. Fax + 41 22 733 34 30. E-mail central@iso.org
Web www.iso.org Editor in Chief: Roger Frost. Contributing Editor: Garry Lambert. Artwork: Pascal Krieger, Pierre Granier. A one-year subscription (six issues) to ISO MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS costs 126 Swiss francs. Subscription enquiries: Sonia Rosas, ISO Central Secretariat.
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© ISO, May-June 2003. The views expressed in ISO MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS are those of the authors. The advertising of products, services,
events or training courses in this publication does not imply their approval by ISO.
ISO Management Systems – May-June 2003
5
Photo: Henry Voide
Editorial
BY
Editorial
R OGER F ROST
ISO’s magic spell
Costs would be
drastically reduced
if products could be
tested once and the
results accepted in
all markets
W
e all look up to values. How do you bring them down to earth ?
Naturally, most of us value quality, ecology, safety, economy, reliability,
efficiency and effectiveness in the products and services we buy, use at work
or home, or that our children use at play.
The problem is that such values and criteria belong to the lofty realm of
“ good ideas ”. To make them real, they need chunking down into specific
characteristics that are relevant to a given product and service and practical
to implement during its design, manufacture or supply.
The solution seems simple, doesn’t it ? However, simple does not necessarily mean easy. The specific and concrete characteristics that bring concepts
to life do not fall out of the sky – they have to be developed. To do so
requires bringing together people with the necessary expertise and providing
them with a tried and tested structure, and effective processes and efficient
tools to work with. Obviously, this requires organization, especially as the
task is multiplied by many hundreds of times – as many as there are products,
services, materials, processes and systems to which developing agreements on
worthwhile characteristics and specifications can add value for their manufacturers and providers, customers and users.
Added value
This added value is the output of the system for the development of
International Standards. Simple, in theory ; in practice, not easy – but, fortunately, there is ISO. To date, the ISO system has produced more than 13 700
International Standards that provide state-of-the-art solutions for just about
every business sector and area of technology. But there’s more to the story
than just standards – and the story has grown more complicated over the
years.
Since early civilizations, people have implemented standards in areas like
construction, transport, production and administration for the benefits they
bring in efficiency and effectiveness at an economical cost. In addition to the
immediate practical effects, on a higher level, standardization promotes general progress by acting as a repository for technical advances and their diffusion on a wide scale. At both these levels, the traditional benefits of stan6
ISO Management Systems – May-June 2003
dardization can be encapsulated by the metaphor of standards removing the
obligation “ to have to re-invent the wheel ”.
These primary benefits of standardization are still true today. If anything,
they are accentuated by the critical need to provide practical means for
encouraging sustainable development and the equitable sharing of developing countries and economies in transition in the fruits of technological and
economic progress.
With an intensified requirement for internationally applicable standards
comes increased responsibilities : not only do the standards and the system
that develops them have to be “ up to standard ”, but the different stakeholders need to be confident that claims to meet International Standards can be
relied upon. Hence the growing attention paid to “ conformity assessment ”.
As goods and services flow across borders, business partners or government
agencies may require verification that they measure up to standards, regulations and other requirements. The technical term for this verification is “ conformity assessment ”.
One of the main difficulties that exporters face is costly, multiple testing
and/or certification of products, services, systems, processes and materials.
These costs would be drastically reduced if products could be tested once
and the results accepted in all markets.
Guide 68 is a concrete
Confidence
example of how ISO
So, in addition to International Standards for products, materials, etc., ISO
develops standards and guidelines for conformity assessment activities, and
the bodies that carry them out, with the practical aims of encouraging their
coherence and consistency worldwide and thus increasing confidence in
them. The strategic objective has been summed up as “ 1-1-1 ”, which can be
described as ISO’s “ magic spell ” for opening the benefits of world trade to
all : 1-1-1 = 1 standard, 1 test, 1 certificate – accepted everywhere.
is working to make the
1-1-1 magic spell work
Of course, does the side of the mountain really open to reveal a treasure
trove at the magical command of “ Open sesame ! ” – except in the story ?
Mere repetition of “ 1-1-1 ” will not work magic either. Fortunately, as
already observed, ISO has a rich experience in the domain, such as
transforming values like quality, ecology, safety, economy, reliability,
efficiency and effectiveness into implementable requirements and
specifications.
An example is the new ISO/IEC Guide 68, Arrangements for the
recognition and acceptance of conformity assessment results (see
p. 13), which will contribute to reducing redundant, costly and timeconsuming aspects of conformity assessment activities. As well as
meeting the practical requirements of conformity assessment professionals, Guide 68 is intended to be a useful tutorial for others,
such as government trade officials. The potential audience also
includes managers whose specific experience of ISO 9000 and ISO
14000 has awakened awareness of the role of International
Standards in general in facilitating trade and are therefore curious to
learn more. In short, Guide 68 is a concrete example of how ISO is working
to make the 1-1-1 magic spell work.
We all value values. ISO standards make them real.
ISO Management Systems – May-June 2003
7
Publicité Qualios
1 page
8
ISO Management Systems – May-June 2003
ISO INSIDER
Revising ISO 14001 and ISO 14004
To ensure that ISO standards represent the state of the art, ISO’s rules
require its technical committees to
review the standards they have developed within five years of their publication and to decide whether to
revise, confirm or withdraw them.
ISO’s environmental management
system (EMS) standards ISO 14001
(EMS specification and guidance for
use) and ISO 14004 (general guidelines on EMS principles, systems and
supporting technologies) are no
exceptions to the rule. Published in
1996, they are now being revised by
Subcommittee (SC) 1 of ISO technical
committee
ISO/TC
207,
Environmental management, which
developed the original versions.
In addition to ISO’s five-year
review requirement, the following
issues came into play
during the discussions
To ensure
preceding the review :
!
!
!
!
committee about the need for and
possible approach to a revision of
both standards and this took place in
1998. Thirty-one of the then 47 participating “ P” members (ISO technical committees also have observer
“ O ” members who do not vote) of
ISO/TC 207/SC 1 supported revising
the standards with most of them preferring to see a wide-ranging revision.
At the same time, concerns existed
(and still do) that such an early revision could cause confusion or uncertainty among the potential users of
the standards. Therefore, SC 1 decided
to limit the revisions to the following :
– enhancing compatibility between
ISO 14001 and ISO 9001:2000, and
– improving the clarity of the 1996
texts.
This decision was
designed to reassure
that ISO
the market place,
standards represent
assist existing users
and help countries
the state of the art,
only recently becoming aware of and
ISO’s rules require its
involved
in
the
technical committees
development and use
of the standards.
to review the standards
the overwhelming
desire of the writers of the standards to ensure
compatibility with
the ISO 9000
series standards,
which were underthey have
going a major revision at the time
ISO 14001 and ISO 14004 were
first published ;
the need to ensure that the standards are clear in their requirements and content ;
the need to reflect experience in
the use of ISO 14001 and ISO
14004 ;
the need to ensure that the standards can be used and understood
by all types and sizes of organization worldwide.
SC 1 decided to survey the national delegations that make up the sub-
In the case of ISO
14004, the scope of
the revision was
defined as follows :
developed
BY
O SWALD A. D ODDS
Oswald A. Dodds, MBE, is
chairman of ISO technical
committee ISO/TC 207’s
Subcommittee 1, which is
revising ISO 14001 and ISO
14004, and a member of the
working group dealing
specifically with ISO 14001.
He is co-leader of the ISO/TC
207 Group on Corporate Social
Responsibility, TC 207 liaison
representative to ISO/CASCO,
Committee on conformity
assessment, and leader
of the United Kingdom
delegation to ISO/TC 207.
He is also active in standardization at all levels within the
British Standards Institution
(BSI) and the European
Committee for Standardization
(CEN). Former executive
director of a large British local
government authority, Oswald
Dodds now runs his own
business support company,
Osanda.
– improve the clarity of the text,
Oswald A Dodds, MBE, Director,
Osanda Support Services,
19 Shepperton Close, Great Billing,
Northampton NN3 9NT,
United Kingdom.
– reflect and integrate the experience of users,
Tel.
Fax
E-mail
– follow and remain consistent with
the revisions of ISO 14001,
+ 44 1604 401726.
+ 44 1604 414366.
oad.osanda@btinternet.com
– ensure that the document can be
used by and is relevant to small
and medium enterprises (SME’s).
Previous articles in ISO Management Systems by ISO/TC 207
experts Philip Stapleton (“ ISO
14004 revision will promote use
of environmental management
ISO Management Systems – May-June 2003
9
ISO INSIDER
systems by the SME ”, IMS,
March-April 2002) and Lynn
Johannson (“ ISO 14001 : one for
all, or just for some ”, IMS,
September-October 2002) provided information on this aspect.
Terms of reference for the revisions were agreed and the work got
underway in 1999-2000. The original
work plan showed that the task should
be completed during 2003. It is now
seen as more likely that the task will
be completed during 2004.
The revision process
ISO/TC 207, SC 1 decided
to limit the revisions
to the following :
– enhancing compatibility
between ISO 14001 and
ISO 9001:2000...
10
in that group (the Joint Task Group)
have attended each other’s meetings,
offering comments to aid the compatibility improvements of ISO’s quality
and environmental management system standards.
Key revisions
Examples of key changes proposed
to ISO 14001 include the following :
!
changes to the diagram to show
the Plan-Do-Check-Act methodology and the addition of a note of
explanation and reference to the
process approach used in ISO
9001:2000 ;
Two working groups have been set
up, each assigned the revision of one
! amendments to and the addition
of the standards. They use many techof new definitions for compatibiliniques, ranging from general brainty, and enhancement and clarity of
storming sessions to specific issue dismeaning ;
cussions in small and large groups, not
! the explicit requirement to define
to forget focussed task groups looking
the scope of the EMS has been
at a particular element (or even
moved from the Introduction of
phrase) in one of the standards.
the existing version of the standard
We have been through rough
to clause 4.1 ;
drafts, working drafts, editing groups,
! the requirement “ for the Policy to
and many more ! We have had our
be appropriate to the nature, scale
“ moments ” en route to the present
and environmental impacts ” will
position, but that is all part of the
now apply to the “ activities, prodprocess of consensus building which is
ucts and services that
at the core of the ISO
are within the defined
process.
We have had the full scope of its EMS ”;
Currently, we are in
the middle of a foursupport and cooperation ! the phrases “ empmonth (approximately)
loyees ” and “ memperiod for Committee
of our colleagues
bers ” are to be replaced
Draft (CD) ballot/comby the phrase “ all perments that will hopeful- from ISO/TC 176/SC 2 –
sons working for or on
ly lead to a Draft
the subcommittee
behalf of the organizaInternational Standard
tion ” ;
responsible for
(DIS) for both revised
! the Legal and other
documents following
ISO 9001:2000
requirements clause is to
meetings scheduled to
include an explicit protake place in Bali,
vision “ to ensure that legal requireIndonesia in late June/early July 2003.
ments are considered in developing,
I should point out that through
implementing and maintaining (an
this activity we have had the full suporganization’s) EMS ” ;
port and cooperation of our colleagues from ISO/TC 176/SC 2 – the
! the clauses in the 1996 edition that
subcommittee responsible for ISO
refer to Objectives and Targets and
9001:2000. Several years ago, during
Environmental Management protheir own revision activity, a joint
gramme are to be combined in
group was established to deal with
order to aid understanding ;
compatibility issues and participants
ISO Management Systems – May-June 2003
ISO INSIDER
!
!
!
the clauses on Structure and
responsibility, and
Training,
awareness and competence have
been revised to clarify their purpose and make them more understandable for users ;
the requirement for specific documented procedures is to be
reduced to that required for operational control purposes. In all
other cases, the need for documentation is to be covered by a
revised Documentation clause
that includes requirements for
– documented
environmental
policy, objectives and targets,
– a description of the main elements of the EMS and their
interaction and reference to
related documents,
– documents required by this
International Standard,
– documents determined by the
organization to be necessary to
ensure the effective planning,
operation and control of
processes that relate to its significant environmental aspects,
and
– records required by this
International
Standard.
!
Annex B : informative tables showing links between ISO 9001 : 2000
and ISO 14001:200X will be updated as the revision progresses.
Space limitations preclude a more
detailed explanation of proposed
changes, as they are many and
detailed. All of them are designed
to :
– improve the clarity of the 1996
text,
– improve further compatibility
between ISO 9001:2000 and ISO
14001:200X,
– ensure easier translation and use
around the world, and
– avoid new requirements being
introduced (beyond any changes
needed to implement the other
bullet points above).
...and
– improving the clarity
of the 1996 texts.
Clearly, with both ISO 14001 and
ISO 14004, the views of ISO national member institutes will have to be
accommodated as we move to finalize the revised standards – and clearly too, the ballot results will be significant in how and when we move
to finalize the process and ask ISO
to publish the new editions.
I am optimistic
that we can achieve
I am optimistic that
publication during
the requirement
we can achieve publication 2004 – later than
to evaluate legal
originally expected,
compliance peribut given the nature
during 2004
odically is to be
of the task and the
separated from
considerable interest
the monitoring and measurement
and involvement in our discussions,
clause to ensure that it receives
perhaps not entirely unexpected.
appropriate attention by users ;
!
the EMS audit clause will be
amended to emphasize that the
requirement is for an internal
process (not to be confused with
other audit-type activities) ;
!
Annex A : the guidance offered on
the use of ISO 14001 has been
revised to fit with the changes to
the requirements and to provide
guidance based on experience and
need, and
ISO Management Systems – May-June 2003
11
ISO INSIDER
International
benchmark for
personnel
certification
schemes
BY E LIZABETH
G ASIOROWSKI -D ENIS
The author is a
journalist in the Public
Relations Department of
ISO Central Secretariat.
E-mail
gasiorowski@iso.org
ISO/IEC 17024 should be
the basis for the
recognition
of the certification bodies
and their certification
schemes
A new International Standard
aims to harmonize the various procedures used around the world for certifying the competence of personnel
in different professions.
It will provide a global benchmark
for certification schemes to ensure
that they operate in a consistent,
comparable and reliable manner
worldwide, thus establishing an environment for the mutual recognition
of schemes and facilitating the global
mobility of personnel.
Today, thousands of
certification programmes
exist for personnel in
practically every industry, in particular in the
service sectors, from
health care personnel
and financial planners to
safety professionals and
non-destructive testing
operators, as a means of
demonstrating their professional
ability.
One of the functions of the body
carrying out certification of persons
is to undertake an independent
assessment of education/training,
experience, demonstrated knowledge
and skills applicable to the area for
which the certification is awarded.
This process is known as a “ certification scheme ”.
Objective criteria
The new standard, ISO/IEC 17024,
Conformity assessment – General
requirements for bodies operating certification of persons, provides a uniform set of guidelines for organiza-
12
ISO Management Systems – May-June 2003
tions managing the qualification and
certification of persons, including
procedures for the development and
maintenance of a certification
scheme. It is designed to help bodies
operating certification of persons
conduct well-planned and structured
evaluations using objective criteria
for competence and grading in order
to ensure impartiality of operations
and reduce any conflict of interest.
“ To be able to choose a person
with the competence needed, or for a
person to be able to demonstrate specific competencies, the tool of certification under a defined certification
scheme may be particularly useful,”
said Dr. Thomas Facklam, Chairman
of the International Accreditation
Forum (IAF) and convenor of the
ISO working group that developed
the new standard.
“ ISO/IEC 17024 should be the
basis for the recognition of the certification bodies and their certification
schemes, in order to facilitate their
acceptance on the national and international levels. Only the harmonization of the system for developing and
maintaining certification schemes for
persons can establish the environment for mutual recognition and the
global exchange of personnel,” further noted Dr. Facklam.
The new standard is the work of
ISO/CASCO’s working group WG
17, Certification of persons, in partnership with the IEC (International
Electrotechnical Commission).
ISO/IEC 17024, Conformity assessment – General requirements for bodies operating certification of persons,
costs 59 Swiss francs and is available
from ISO national member institutes
(a complete list with contact details
is posted on ISO’s Web site :
www.iso.org) and from ISO Central
Secretariat (sales@iso.org).
ISO INSIDER
New ISO/IEC
guide aims to
improve efficiency
of international
trade
ISO/IEC Guide 68, Arrangements
for the recognition and acceptance of
conformity assessment results, costs 52
Swiss francs and is available from ISO
national member institutes (a complete list with contact details is posted
on ISO’s Web site : www.iso.org)
and from ISO Central Secretariat
(sales@iso.org).
Useful introduction
BY
E LIZABETH G ASIOROWSKI -D ENIS
A new ISO/IEC guide aims to
reduce redundant, costly and timeconsuming aspects of “ conformity
assessment ” activities and, in doing so,
contribute to the efficiency of the
international trading system.
As goods and services flow across
borders, business partners or government agencies may require verification that they measure up to standards,
regulations
and
other
requirements. This verification is
known as “ conformity assessment ”.
One of the main difficulties exporters
face is costly, multiple testing and/or
certification of products, services, systems, processes and materials. These
costs would be drastically reduced if a
product could be tested once and the
results accepted in all markets.
The new guide provides procedures for establishing and maintaining
cooperation among the bodies that
carry out conformity assessments and
the “ accreditation bodies ” that verify
their competence. This cooperation is
formalized in what is known as a
recognition arrangement (or acceptance arrangement) which will allow
the contracting parties to recognize
(or accept) the results of each other’s
inspections, testing, certification or
accreditation for goods and services
traded internationally.
These arrangements are expected
to improve the confidence of both private and public sector purchasers, and
of regulators, that requirements applicable to products, services and systems have been met.
According to John Donaldson,
convenor of the working group that
developed ISO/IEC Guide 68, it is a
useful introduction to the elements
and procedures so far developed to
establish cooperation among conformity assessment bodies.
“ The concept of arrangements for
the acceptance of conformity assessment results is complex. The new
guide has attempted to simplify the
concept for ease of understanding - at
a general level. It will be used in tutorial situations for those unfamiliar
with conformity assessment situations.
Moreover, it should prove useful for
educating trade policy analysts and
others relatively new to the field of
conformity assessment.”
Arrangements for cooperation are
intended to avoid the expense and
inconvenience of multiple conformity
assessments that goods and services
may need to undergo, especially when
they are traded across borders. They
will also serve the market by helping
to lower technical barriers to trade –
which results in lower manufacturing
costs – and to raise the level of confidence between buyers and sellers.
ISO/IEC Guide 68 was developed
by ISO/CASCO, Committee on conformity assessment, working group
WG 11, Mutual recognition agreements, in partnership with the IEC
(International Electrotechnical Commission).
The new guide
has attempted
to simplify the concept
for ease
of understanding
ISO Management Systems – May-June 2003
13
Publicité SQS
1 page
14
ISO Management Systems – May-June 2003
VIEWPOINT
I
was the generic and systemic
approach, which lent itself to
meeting other challenges that
organizations face. This led to
the development – and the
success – of ISO 14000 and
realization of the potential of
management system standards
for addressing other dimensions.
Alan Bryden : There is an
Above and beyond the
understandable emphasis on
practical benefits that ISO 9000
certification because certifiand ISO 14000
cates can be
bring organcounted
and
izations
in
therefore proISO documents...
terms of the
vide a temptefficiency and
ingly
easy
disseminate progress,
effectiveness
measure of sucdemonstrate
of their operacess. However,
tions, a full
it would be
performance and
appreciation of
superficial to
their success
understand the
facilitate international
needs to take
success of ISO
trade
into account
9000 and ISO
their strategic
14000 solely in
importance. In
terms of the
fact, ISO’s manumber of cernagement systificates. If for
tem standards
no other reaform the spear
son, we don’t
point of an adknow
how
vance by intermany organizanational stantions
impledardization in
ment
these
general
into
standards for
the centre of
their internal
Alan Bryden took office as ISO’s new Secretary-General –
one of today’s
benefits, withthe
equivalent
of a chief executive officer of a business corporation –
principal ecoout seeking ceron 1 March 2003.
nomic
and
tification. As
social developthe benefits –
ments – the globalization of trade.
reported, for example, by IMS – to different types of
organization in different sectors are considerable,
ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 provide a globally
then we would expect these numbers to be substanunderstood framework for business-to-business
tial.
relationships. They promote confidence in the context of international trade and today’s networked
When ISO 9000 was published, it was a solution
economy where even small and medium-sized
whose time had come. The benefits of an inclusive,
enterprises can reach out via Internet to markets
integrated approach to ensuring quality had
beyond their geographic hinterland.
become widely recognized by leading organizations. ISO 9000 took the best features of different
national approaches and distilled them into a stateUniversally known
of-the-art model suitable for implementation by
In ISO 9000 and ISO 14000, we provide the
any type of organization, anywhere in the world.
market with management standards universally
In rationalizing best practice and making it
known and accepted to enable companies and
available to all, ISO 9000 resembled many ISO
organizations both to improve their operations
standards. What was new and different, however,
IMS interviews
ISO’s new
Secretary-General
Photo : P. Krieger
SO Management Systems :
More than 500 000 organizations worldwide certified to
ISO 9000 standards, over 37 000
certified to ISO 14001 – how do
you explain the international
success of ISO’s management
system standards ?
“
”
ISO Management Systems – May-June 2003
15
VIEWPOINT
and to communicate their achievements and their
focus on customer satisfaction and continuous
improvement to their customers and stakeholders,
whether local or international.
IMS : Not only are users implementing management systems based on ISO 9000 and ISO 14000, but
a growing number are also adding or integrating
processes to deal with dimensions such as occupational health and safety (OHS), risk management
and so on. How does ISO propose to facilitate the
task facing users in integrating management systems ?
proliferating both at the national and international
levels and providing reference documents. How is
ISO reacting to this trend ?
AB : Within ISO, we prefer to refer generically
to “ social responsibility ” since the subject is of
interest both to business corporations and to
organizations at large. I would say that we are in a
“ pre-standardization ” phase.
Indeed, initiatives are numerous, reference
documents are proliferating and social ratings
agencies are prospering because investors and
retailers are seeking assurances about the behaviour of companies. This is because consumers
themselves are becoming more concerned. As a
result, “ ethico-marketing ” is growing in relation
to consumer goods, along with claims that are not
always substantiated. In this connection, it is
noteworthy that social responsibility made its
entry to ISO through ISO/
COPOLCO, our Committee on
consumer policy, which last year
presented a report on the issue,
suggesting that ISO endeavour
to address it.
reference
AB : Whether in the small company sensitive to
the need to use limited resources efficiently, or in
multinational corporations at the corporate level,
quality, environment and safety are best managed
in a coordinated and consistent way. All three
require the commitment of top
management and they impact on
the sustainability of the organization and affect the satisfaction of
stakeholders at large. It is, after
all, an issue of risk management :
Developing
failures in any of these dimendocuments for conformity
sions may well compromise the
First step
mid-term economic and commerassessment
is
a
very
important
Because
ISO
commits
cial success of the organization.
resources
to
new
work
only
when
Because OHS includes social
facet of ISO's contribution
the market need for it is clearly
and labour aspects, this dimension
to the world trading system established, our first step has
is often affected by national or
been to put representatives of the
regional regulations. It is true that
stakeholder interest groups and the authors of siga number of national standards have been develnificant international contributions around the
oped addressing this component of the performtable to develop agreement on what social responance of companies.
sibility actually covers and how ISO could help in
It is also the case that national initiatives have
designing international reference documents to
been taken to develop guidelines to integrate the
address it.
three dimensions within one management system.
On the basis of this first step, ISO Council was
We are well aware of these initiatives, but you need
advised and decided to go further. In the coming
to remember that ISO has a “ bottom-up ” approach
months, we will thus develop a Technical Report
to developing new standards – the requirement has
consisting of a compendium of current initiatives
to emerge from the market.
and proposing ways forward for international
However, considering the success of these initiastandardization. They could consist of guidelines
tives, I would not be surprised if we were invited to
for integrating social responsibility issues in manproceed with giving them an international profile –
agement systems, of a clarification of terminolobut it would be to provide a tool for improvement
gy, or even of guidelines for reporting or assessing
and communication, rather than a basis for certifiperformance, if the stakeholders so wish.
cation, considering the links I mentioned with the
Clearly, the ISO system offers a proven
local legal context.
“ machinery ”, a “ brand name ” and a dissemination
process that can help to develop, in this area as we
IMS : The three dimensions (economic-environhave done in others, internationally recognized
mental-social) basically form the “ triple bottom
and consistent reference documents.
line ” often referred to when addressing “ corporate
social responsibility”. There again, initiatives are
16
ISO Management Systems – May-June 2003
VIEWPOINT
IMS : With the growth of cross border trade, more
and more enterprises are becoming aware of the
advantages of agreements facilitating worldwide
recognition of tests, certificates and inspections
relating to products, services and management systems. What clarity and practical help can ISO bring
to businesses, trade negotiators and government regulators in this area of “ conformity assessment ” – to
give it its technical name ?
AB : ISO has already achieved a lot in this area.
We can point, for example, to the success of
accreditation which, in simple terms, means the
formal approval of organizations as competent to
offer specific conformity assessment services. The
accreditation of many thousands of certification
bodies and testing laboratories around the world is
based on joint ISO/IEC standards and guides
developed by ISO/CASCO, Committee on conformity assessment
Confidence
(see p. 12), which has just been published, breaks
new ground for ISO – Conformity assessment –
General requirements for bodies operating certification of persons.
Our success in the area of conformity assessment is demonstrated by the fact that the WTO
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade is now
well aware of our “ tool box ” for conformity assessment, which is a topic high on its agenda, and, in
particular, of our Guide 68, Arrangements for the
recognition and acceptance of conformity assessment results (see p. 13).
Success also has its inconveniences : we must
make sure that reference to ISO in these matters –
especially claims of conformity to our standards –
is not misused, because that would damage our
image. We have taken collaborative steps to
improve the situation.
So, there again, ISO is in the forefront of providing the economic and social players with reference documents to disseminate progress, demonstrate performance and facilitate international
trade.
Photo : P. Krieger
More and more, conformity assessment and
mutual recognition arrangements based on peer
assessment, such as those developed by ILAC
(International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation) and IAF (International Accreditation Forum) or between certification
Quality, environment and
bodies themselves, make use of the standards and guides that we have developed
safety are best managed
with the participation of all stakeholders.
Under these arrangements, conformity
in a coordinated and
assessment bodies in different countries
consistent way
recognize as equivalent each others’
tests, certificates or accreditations. This
may greatly contribute to facilitating
trade, all the more so as conforming to
our reference documents may result in
greater confidence placed by the market
and authorities in the corresponding conformity assessment services.
Trade regulators themselves increasingly turn to our standards when they
require conformity assessment procedures, or need to designate third party
operators to carry out conformity
Formerly Director General of France’s national standards
assessment activities on their behalf.
institute, AFNOR, Alan Bryden’s background includes
So, all in all, I consider that develophands-on
experience of conformity assessment as Director
ing reference documents for conformity
General of the French national testing laboratory
assessment is a very important facet of (Laboratoire National d’Essais – LNE), which is one of the country’s
ISO’s contribution to the world trading
leading establishments for metrology, testing and certification.
system. Progressively, we are completing
Among other responsibilities, he was Vice-President of the first
and improving our collection of such
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade in GATT, which has
documents. For example, ISO/IEC 17024
since become the World Trade Organization (WTO).
“
”
ISO Management Systems – May-June 2003
17
Publicités SAI et VCA
2 1/2 pages
18
ISO Management Systems – May-June 2003
SPECIAL RE PORT
Management
systems in
the automotive
sector
‘ ISOmobile! ’
Eight of every 10 cars to run
on ISO 9001:2000 by 2006
BY
H ENRY G RYN
By the end of 2006, as many as eight out of every 10 cars and trucks produced around
the world will contain parts or components that have been designed, manufactured
and sold under an ISO 9001:2000-based quality management system.
Henry Gryn represents car maker
DaimlerChrysler on the International
Automotive Task Force (IATF), an ad hoc group
of automotive manufacturers and their
respective trade associations, formed to
provide improved quality products to
customers worldwide.
The author headed the IATF delegation
which formed a partnership with ISO technical
committee ISO/TC 176 and the Japanese
Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA)
to develop ISO/TS 16949:2002 in order to
harmonize quality management requirements
for the automotive sector worldwide.
ISO Management Systems – May-June 2003
19
SPECIAL RE PORT
F
We found the standard
to be much improved
over the 1994 edition
in that it is geared
toward the way a
company does business
1) ISO/TS 16949:2002, Quality
management systems – Particular
requirements for the application
of ISO 9001:2000 for automotive
production and relevant service
part organizations, costs 116
Swiss francs and is available from
ISO national member institutes
(listed with contact details on
ISO’s Web site : www.iso.org) and
from the ISO Central Secretariat
(sales@iso.org).
20
or the first time in history, the
highly competitive automotive
industry has reached consensus
through the International Automotive
Task Force (IATF) on a common set
of supplier quality requirements that
were developed and published in
March 2002 by ISO (International
Organization for Standardization –
www.iso.org) as ISO/TS 16949:2002,
Quality management systems –
Particular requirements for the application of ISO 9001:2000 for automotive production and relevant service
part organizations 1).
A technical specification, ISO/TS
16949:2002 incorporates the verbatim
text of ISO 9001:2000 plus automotive-specific requirements in areas
such as employee competence, awareness and training, design and development, production and service provision, control of monitoring and
measuring devices and measurement,
analysis and improvement.
Automotive manufacturers accounting for 80 % of vehicle sales around
the world plan to migrate their suppliers to the new requirements by
December 2006.
At the time of writing this article,
the technical specification has been
rolled out – or is in the process –
throughout North and South America,
Europe, Asia and Africa, including the
following
countries : Argentina,
Australia, Austria, Brazil, China,
France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan,
Korea, Mexico, Spain, the United
Kingdom and the United States.
We worked through ISO’s consensus process and relied on IS0 9000 as
a foundational document not only
because it represents a global model
for quality management systems, but
also because the core requirements of
ISO 9001:2000 are consistent with
Original Equipment Manufacturer
(OEM) – the automobile manufacturers – quality requirements in the
automotive industry.
It was extremely helpful to use an
ISO document as a starting point
rather than having each OEM start
with its own company-specific
ISO Management Systems – May-June 2003
requirements. We found the standard
to be much improved over the 1994
edition in that it is geared toward the
way a company does business, not
whether you have “ this paperwork
and that paperwork ”. It’s more user
friendly too. ISO 9001:2000 recognizes that each and every company is
a little unique because each one does
things in a different way.
Over the next three years, the transition to ISO/TS 16949:2002 will affect
thousands of supplier companies in
every corner of the globe. In North
America, the “ Big Three ” automakers
– DaimlerChrysler, Ford and General
Motors – have all agreed to transition
their suppliers that had previously
been subject to the requirements of
the third edition of QS-9000 to
ISO/TS 16949:2002 no later than
December 2006 – and possibly sooner
on a company-by-company basis.
As you might expect, this decision
will require considerable third-party
auditing resources. Not wanting to
interfere with the December 2003
deadline for companies to transition
to ISO 9001:2000, the Big Three have
entered into a special agreement with
ISO, allowing the industry to continue to use the 1994 requirements of
ISO 9000 in the QS-9000 document
until December 2006.
Supply base
Each automotive OEM subscribing
member of the IATF will provide specific direction to its supply base in the
coming months. To date, the suppliers
that will be impacted by ISO/TS 16949
are primarily direct manufacturing
suppliers to BMW, DaimlerChrysler,
Fiat, Ford Motor Company, General
Motors Corporation, PSA Peugeot
Citroën, Renault and Volkswagen.
In Europe, Fiat requires compliance to ISO/TS 16949:2002 for new
suppliers and renewals.
PSA Peugeot Citroën will no
longer recognize certification to
ISO/TS 16949:1999 and to the French
automotive sector quality specification
EAQF-1994 from 15 December 2003.
SPECIAL RE PORT
From that date, certification to ISO/TS
16949:2002 will be the sole quality
management system requirement for
the first tier mass production suppliers
to PSA Peugeot Citroën with transition deadlines of 1 July 2004 (for current EAQF-certified suppliers) and 15
December 2004 (for ISO/TS 16949:
1999-certified suppliers).
Also in Europe, BMW requires
compliance only, while Renault
recently announced that its suppliers
are required to be certified to ISO/TS
16949:2002 by 1 July 2004. Suppliers
who are already registered to the first
edition have until the end of 2004 to
comply.
DaimlerChrysler, the world’s number five automaker, has announced
that it is requiring third-party certification of key suppliers to ISO/TS
16949:2002 by 1 July 2004.
Counting the European programmes, we estimate that the newly
combined automotive market represents more than 30 000 third-party certificates. In comparison, about 22 000
third-party certificates have been issued
throughout the world to QS-9000.
Having participated in the IATF
meetings on behalf of Daimler
Chrysler, I can say without hesitation
that this technical specification is a
value-adding document for the automotive sector. The process for completion was fast and involved participation by OEM’s, suppliers and experts
from ISO Technical Committee ISO
176, which is responsible for the ISO
9000 family of International Standards for quality management. We
believe that this technical specification, when coupled with its accompanying registration/certification scheme,
has significant benefits for the suppliers to whom it is applicable, and for
subscribing OEM’s.
First published in 1999, ISO/TS
16949 represents the collaborative
efforts of not only the aforementioned
OEM’s, but also supplier trade organizations like the Automotive Industry
Action Group (AIAG – USA, www.
aiag.org), Associazione Nazionale Fra
Industrie Automobilistiche (ANFIA –
Italy, www.anfia.it), Fédération des
Industries des Équipements pour
Véhicules (FIEV – France, www.fiev.
fr), Society of Motor Manufacturers
and Traders (SMMT – United Kingdom, www.smmt.co.uk) and Verband
der
Automobilindustrie-Qualitätsmanagement Center (VDA-QMC –
Germany, www.vda-qmc.de). The 2002
edition of ISO/TS 16949 also reflects
participation by the Japan Automobile
Manufacturers Association
Inc.
(JAMA, www.japanauto.com).
Robust
Over the next three
The involvement of OEM representatives, supplier trade organizations, JAMA and ISO TC 176 resulted
in a robust automotive sector ISObased document and certification
scheme. The process was developed
through a high level of expertise and
in remarkably short order. The goals
of common process development and
implementation, auditable quality
management system requirements
and an ISO-released technical specification by early 2002 were clearly met.
So far, there are no planned supplements to ISO/TS 16949, such as
the Tooling and Equipment supplement for QS-9000, but they are
expected by the 2006 expiration of
QS-9000. Meanwhile, those suppliers
subject to supplements should continue with their present certifications.
In North America, we are trying to
ramp down QS-9000 as we ramp up
ISO/TS 16949:2002. The Supplier
Quality Requirements Task Force,
years, the transition to
ISO/TS 16949:2002
will affect thousands
of supplier companies
in every corner of
the globe
ISO Management Systems – May-June 2003
21
SPECIAL RE PORT
We estimate that
the newly combined
automotive market
represents more than
30 000 third-party
certificates
22
which administers QS-9000, has no
plans or interest in updating QS9000. This includes sanctioned interpretations and customer specifics.
Among the most visible changes
for existing QS-9000 certificate holders will be the new process-based
approach of auditors, a more rigorous
approval process for third-party certification bodies and additional emphasis on meeting customer requirements
as measured by delivered part quality
performance, customer disruptions,
delivery schedule performance, including incidents of premium freight
and special status customer notifications related to
quality or delivery issues.
Suppliers will
be
expected
to take more
responsibility
for assuring that
auditors
have
the proper tools
to do better
audits under the
new system. Every supplier must provide auditors with current customer
ratings prior to each audit along with
a list of customers, performance data
from the previous 12-month period, a
list of internal auditors and internal
audit results.
Unlike some QS-9000 audits in
the past, where auditors relied on
checklists, ISO/TS 16949 auditors use
checklists only to verify the completeness of their audits. They are
expected to use control plans, failure
mode effect analysis and part
approval rates as a vehicle for their
audits and to verify that customer
specific requirements are being met.
In the past, the lack of emphasis on
customer specific requirements was a
major concern of OEM’s.
Another key difference from QS9000 is in the area of scope. Only
organizations that add value to the
manufacturing process of a subscribing OEM may be awarded standalone certification to the new
requirement. While functions such as
ISO Management Systems – May-June 2003
sales, purchasing and engineering
may be listed as supporting organizations, they are not eligible for separate ISO/TS 16949 certification.
The second edition of ISO/TS
16949 permits the certification of
assembly plants. As a result, elements
of each of the Big Three are now pursuing certification.
Correct past problems
We have been concerned about
inconsistencies among third-party
audit practices since the first edition
of QS-9000 was rolled out in 1994.
Consequently, many of the differences in the ISO/TS 16949 registration/certification process are intended to correct past problems that
resulted in too many instances of
questionable audits. The new document provides for continual improvement, while emphasizing defect prevention and the reduction of variation
and waste in the supply chain.
Only registrars (certification bodies) contracted with one of the five
regional IATF oversight offices
established in France, Germany, Italy,
the United Kingdom and the United
States (see box “ Managing the
ISO/TS 16949 certification scheme ”)
may issue IATF-recognized thirdparty registration certificates in
accordance with ISO/TS 16949 to eligible supplier organizations.
IATF oversight offices have intentionally approved fewer registrars
under ISO/TS 16949. We felt that the
174 registrars accredited to issue QS9000 certificates were a bit more than
we could manage comfortably.
In addition to IATF approval, certification bodies must also hold
accreditation to issue ISO 9001:2000
certificates from a recognized national body in their country of origin.
As a rough estimate, in the case of
QS-9000, the transition to ISO/TS
16949 can be expected to take anywhere from three to six months
depending on the state of the existing
QS-9000 system and the amount of
resources applied to the effort.
SPECIAL RE PORT
We expect that ISO/TS 16949:2002
will become the common and unique
basis for the automotive industry's
quality management system requirements worldwide, gradually replacing
the multiple national specifications
now used by the sector (e.g. QS-9000,
AVSQ, VDA6.1 and EAQF).
The second edition of ISO/TS
16949 also requires that direct product-manufacturing suppliers to the
organization have their quality system in step with the organization
seeking compliance to the technical
specification. This essentially means
the organization’s direct productmanufacturing suppliers need to have
in place a robust development programme aimed at achieving conformity with ISO/TS 16949.
There are a number of steps to be
considered, including conformity to
ISO 9001:2000 as the first, followed
by registration to ISO 9001:2000,
unless otherwise waived by the customer. Although there is no specific
date for achievement, audit findings
will likely be based on a defined plan
and its effective implementation.
A binding interpretation of QS9000, which became effective on 1
July 2001, contains a similar requirement for subcontractors but permits
compliance to the 1994 edition of the
QS-9000 standard, or registration to a
current version of the ISO 9000 standard, with which many subcontractors already comply.
Each of the subscribing automotive manufacturers has agreed to
accept ISO/TS 16949 certification
from suppliers in lieu of potential
additional second-party or third-party
assessments. Each OEM reserves the
right to also impose customer-specific
requirements in addition to the
ISO/TS 16949 requirements document. In the case of the Big Three,
each of the car companies has its own
customer-specific requirements.
One of the strengths of the new
technical specification is that it is
aligned with the process-based
approach of ISO 9001:2000. We have
enhanced the process approach in an
automotive context. This enhancement reflects consistency with the
way automotive companies in the
supply chain operate.
The focus on product realization
and the process approach is the way
we do business. I think there was
legitimacy to the complaint that the
quality system audit was too oriented
to procedures based on an elementby-element assessment.
What we have here is an approach
that sets up an audit trail based on
the line of sight from the agreedupon customer requirements to the
operator instructions, and back to
what was delivered to the customer.
It is a better correlation with the way
in which manufacturing product businesses operate.
As a rough estimate,
in the case of QS-9000,
the transition to
ISO/TS 16949 can be
expected to take
anywhere from three
to six months
Managing the ISO/TS 16949
certification scheme
To implement and manage the ISO/TS 16949 registration/certification scheme oversight activities, the IATF established the
International Automotive Oversight Bureau (IAOB).
Based in Southfield, Michigan, USA, the IAOB manages and
coordinates with four European regional offices to ensure consistency of ISO/TS 16949 certification and to support the IATF
in the pursuit of global harmonization with other automotive
manufacturers. The IAOB is also responsible for developing and
maintaining a central IATF database of strategic information in
support of the certification scheme.
!
International Automotive Oversight Bureau (USA)
E-mail quality@aiag.org Web www.iaob.org·
!
CCFA (France)
E-mail technique@ccfa.fr Web www.iatf-france.com·
!
VDA-QMC (Germany)
E-mail info@vda-qmc.de Web www.vda-qmc.de·
!
ANFIA (Italy)
E-mail servizi.qualita@anfia.it Web www.anfia.it ·
!
SMMT
E-mail quality@smmt.co.uk Web www.smmt.co.uk/iatf-uk
ISO Management Systems – May-June 2003
23
SPECIAL RE PORT
Management
systems in
the automotive
sector
Is certification paying
for automotive manufacturers?
BY
T REVOR D AVIES
Head of System
Certification
Operations, VCA.
As the United Kingdom's approval authority for new road vehicles and a supplier of product
and management system certification services to the automotive sector worldwide,
the Vehicle Certification Agency is well placed to provide this overview of the evolution
of the use of management systems and certification in the sector.
A
s the automotive manufacturers and suppliers
begin implementing the second edition of the
technical specification ISO/TS 16949, ISO/TS
16949:2002, Quality management systems – Particular
requirements for the application of ISO 9001:2000 for
automotive production and relevant service part organizations it is the right moment to ask how well man-
24
ISO Management Systems – May-June 2003
agement system certification is serving the sector. We
will begin with the Original Equipment Manufacturers
(OEM’s) – OEM designates the manufacturers that
actually supply the cars to the market.
Automotive manufacturers have been subject to
external assessment since the introduction of quality system standards. This began with second party 1) audits to
SPECIAL RE PORT
defence standards: the NATO AQAP
seeking “ value for money ”, through
series or, in the United Kingdom, the
value-adding assessments that help
Defence Standard 05 series, where satthem maintain disciplines and
isfactory results were required in order
improve their systems.
to tender for new conIn the experience
tracts.
of
the
Vehicle
Depending on the Automotive manufacturers Certification Agency
type of product and
(VCA), which has
have been subject to
the absence or not of
issued certifications
design responsibility,
to the vast majority
external assessment
different levels of
of United Kingdomsince the introduction of based vehicle manuAQAP were applicable. Interestingly, most
quality system standards facturers, not all of
passenger car manuthe latter structured
facturers just needed
their quality manto comply with the final inspection
agement systems (QMS) around the
requirements given in AQAP 9, with
ISO 9000 clauses. Those that did so
only OEM’s such as Land Rover and
generally adapted their systems so
Foden needing to comply with the
that most of the intent of the 2000
highest level (AQAP 1) due to their
version was already in place before
design responsibility.
the revised standard was published.
For OEM’s, it was a change in the
The system put in place in the early
United Kingdom Ministry of Defence
1990’s by Rover, for which the compa(MoD) policy in the early 1990’s that
ny sought ISO 9001 certification, was
required them to seek third party cerbased around a one-page set of policy
tification 1) . At that time, the ISO
statements which covered product,
9000:1987 series comprised the applipolicy, processes, people, customers,
cable quality management system
etc., with a matrix giving policy
standards.
deployment across the organization.
For each policy, there were corporate
owners responsible for the high level
Move to certification
procedures, with other relationships
given as either “ Prime ”, “ OperationThis enforced move to certificaal ”, “ Functional ” or “ Support ”, as
tion was readily accepted by the
appropriate. Using the same philosoOEM’s who, in the vast majority of
phy, this “ plan-on-a-page ” approach
cases where they had design activities
then cascaded down to each of the
in Europe, chose to seek certification,
operational and functional areas of
including of their design activities, to
the company.
ISO 9001. These certifications have
The system presented a challenge
been maintained as the ISO 9000
to VCA, Rover’s certification body,
series has evolved, with increases in
as it required greater understanding
scope and additional operations in
of the company’s systems and a more
many cases.
flexible approach to the assessment.
Both internal and external certifiThe basics of the system stayed in
cation costs are high. In addition, the
place until the purchase of Rover by
OEM’s need to meet contractual
BMW. By then, it had already incorrequirements that exceed the miniporated environmental management
mum requirements for certification.
and integrated system assessments
Their efforts therefore represent
were being carried out.
more than a mere “ certificate on the
Japanese manufacturers based in
wall ”. It is also very important to
the United Kingdom, who took a simdemonstrate to their own suppliers
ilar approach to Rover, already had
that they are prepared to meet the
in place effective systems based on
rigours of external assessment and
sound processes. When ISO 9001:
certification. But in all cases, they are
1) “ Second party ” refers to
audits of suppliers carried out by
their customers. “ Third party ”
audits are carried out by specialized independent bodies.
ISO Management Systems – May-June 2003
25
SPECIAL RE PORT
Jaguar and Land Rover achieve
European first
Britian’s Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA) has issued ISO/
TS 16949:2002 certification to United Kingdom manufacturers
Jaguar and Land Rover who are both part of Ford’s Premier
Automotive Group. They are the first European vehicle manufacturers to achieve certification to the new global automotive
quality system standard and the second worldwide.
Recognition for the two organizations of their systems conforming to the latest version of the automotive sector scheme
standard follows an intensive period of work covering not only
the introduction of systems to meet the new requirements, but
also at the same time as Jaguar’s launch of the new XJ model.
ISO/TS 16949:2002 is now being accepted as the baseline for
the automotive supply chain and its implementation by Jaguar
and Land Rover demonstrates their confidence in it to provide
business benefits. They have led by example to their suppliers
in practicing what they preach.
The certificates follow an intensive period of review not only
of Jaguar and Land Rover by VCA, but also of VCA by the United
Kingdom’s Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).
The SMMT is the oversight body in Britain for the ISO/TS 16949
certification scheme, appointed by the International Automotive
Task Force (IATF), and VCA is one of handful of certification bodies in the country recognized to award certificates against the
latest version of the ISO technical specification.
VCA’s Chief Executive Derek Harvey (left) presents the
ISO/TS 16949:2002 certificate and plaque of recognition to
Jaguar and Land Rover’s Chairman and CEO Bob Dover.
26
ISO Management Systems – May-June 2003
2000 arrived, their approach was to
demonstrate how their processes met
the requirements, rather than align
their system with the standard. With
very few exceptions, the processes
already adequately met the requirements and, in many cases, were
exceeding them. For the Japanese, the
main benefit of ISO 9000 was that it
required discipline in terms of consistency, documentation and records.
Toyota Motor Manufacturing UK is
certified to ISO 9001:2000 and ISO
14001. Kirsty Allen, an engineer in
their Quality Assurance (QA) division,
comments : “ The standards are important sales assets. They provide another
badge of confidence for our customers.
We are impressed with the standard,
which works well for us, although in
some areas, such as process control, the
ISO 9000:1994 series was better, as it
was less fragmented.”
Effective results
For manufacturers that have used
the ISO 9000 standard as their QMS
structure, there have been excellent
examples of policy deployments and,
in all cases, very good, effective and
measured results to drive the business forward. Whilst these results
have usually been included in audits
since the 1994 version of the ISO
9000 series, there is greater emphasis
on them in ISO 9001:2000, although
linking them to key processes is challenging both for manufacturers and
auditors.
Jaguar took an interesting
approach to assessment and certification. Although starting, like all other
manufacturers, with ISO 9000, Jaguar
quickly recognized the additional
benefits of adopting QS-9000 (the US
automotive sector quality system
requirement that includes ISO
9001:1994) as their internal standard.
In particular, the company realized
that improvements were available
through adopting the QS-9000 core
tools for quality planning and control
plans, risk analysis, measurement systems and statistical control. In VCA’s
SPECIAL RE PORT
experience, the extent to which
About VCA
Jaguar implemented these tools was
unique among vehicle manufacturers.
The United Kingdom’s Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA) is a
Moreover, while still a new acquileading certification body in the automotive sector and its
sition by Ford and modest in size
services are used by vehicle manufacturers worldwide. Offering
compared to other parts of the
both product and management system certification from its
American corporation, Jaguar was
offices in Britain, North America, Japan, Korea and Taiwan, VCA
well positioned to try out different
supports the needs of vehicle manufacturers internationally in
approaches compared to Ford's
selling their products in Europe.
mainstream operations. Jaguar was
one of the first parts of Ford to use
As an executive agency of Britain’s Department for Transport
the parent company’s latest product
and as the United Kingdom’s national approval authority for new
development process, then known as
road vehicles, agricultural tractors and off road vehicles, it
the “ World Class Timing Process ”.
contributes to British Government and European policy formulaThis has now developed into the
tion and enforcement of vehicle safety and environmental
excellent Ford Product Development
standards.
System (FPDS). This system identifies design and development as being
Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA), 1 The Eastgate Office Centre,
one of the main causes of poor qualiEastgate Road, Bristol BS5 6XX, United Kingdom.
ty and, in particular, a source of the
Tel.
+ 44 (0) 117 952 4106.
reliability problems that can be so
Fax
+ 44 (0) 117 952 4104.
harmful to the reputation of a vehicle
E-mail enquiries@vca.gov.uk
manufacturer.
Web
www.vca.gov.uk
This is also an area that causes difficulty for auditors, who are not
helped by the ISO 9000/QS-9000
requirements that are still primarily
mandate them all, down to the secfocused on manufacturing. Jaguar,
ond and even third tiers, to the same
together with the later Ford acquisistandard. At what point does it break
tion, Land Rover, continues to see
the camel’s back ? ”
benefits in management system standards and has recently been audited
Legal compliance
to ISO/TS 16949:2002, which it has
implemented in addition to existing
A quality management system
ISO 14001-certified environmental
worthy of the name needs to address
management systems.
legal compliance and, in the United
John Hanson, Quality Strategy
Kingdom, quality management sysand Audit Manager
tem standards are
for Jaguar and Land
part of the mechaRover says : “ ISO/TS The standards are important nism for meeting
16949 is not only
legal requirements
sales assets.
vital to us as an effecfor vehicle systems
tive global quality They provide another badge and
components.
standard, but has tanThese legal aspects
of confidence for our
gible and measurable
are an integral part
business benefits. For
of VCA’s responsibilcustomers
example, while it is
ities to the British
not an absolute prerequisite for govGovernment for issuing vehicle
ernment procurement, it is looked
approvals.
upon very favourably and, specificalThe first link between quality sysly, for United Kingdom Ministry of
tem standards and legal requirements
Defence contracts. Having said that,
was made in the 1970’s with the need
while it is essential for our suppliers
for vehicle and component manufacto have in place a QMS, I’m not necturers to demonstrate they had in
essarily convinced of the necessity to
place satisfactory quality systems. At
ISO Management Systems – May-June 2003
27
SPECIAL RE PORT
9001:1994 and added specific interprethat time, the defence standards were
tations and tools required by the US
used as guidance. Since then, not only
automotive industry.
has the guidance kept in step with
The stated objective of QS-9000
quality management systems as they
was to harmonize the fundamental
have evolved, but ISO 9000 certificasupplier quality system requirements
tion has also become an option
and assessment tools.
among the approval
The Big Three also
requirements specified
in European Directives. The first link between intended to reduce their
own second party audits
Ian Antill, Manager,
quality system
of suppliers’ quality sysQuality Systems Assutems by relying on the
rance, at Jaguar, comstandards and legal
assurance provided by
ments : “ We have cusrequirements
third party audits cartomers in approximately
70 countries worldwide. was made in the 1970’s ried out by certification
bodies, thus enabling
Every one has its own
them to concentrate
relevant legislation, but
their resources in other areas.
ISO/TS 16949 is now accepted globally and helps to demonstrate conformity of production (COP) to product
Very prescriptive
legislation, which means that our
QS-9000 consisted of three secproducts maintain the
tions : the ISO 9001:1994 requirenecessary approval to
ments, sector-specific requirements
meet the legislative
and customer-specific requirements.
requirements of each
In all cases, the requirements were
country, for example in
very prescriptive, describing not only
exhaust emissions, brakwhat was required but also how it
ing systems and seatshould be applied. The specific interbelts.”
pretations gave the generic ISO 9000
Some suppliers, such
an automotive slant which, together
as manufacturers of seat
with the core tools contained in the
belts, safety glass, tyres
related manuals, provided a sound
and lamps, hold managebase for the quality systems required
ment system certificaby the industry.
tion in support of their
The same philosophies were carried
product approvals. In
over into the third, and still current,
general, however, they
edition of QS-9000 where the (someseek certification because one or
times confusing) “ Sanctioned Interpremore of their customers require it. An
tations ” were incorporated. The stanearly example of this was when Rover
dard also took into consideration the
required ISO 9000 certification under
requirements of the parallel European
its RG-2000 quality scheme for moniautomotive sector standards, VDA 6
toring and developing its suppliers.
(Germany), EAQF (France) and
Within the automotive industry,
AVSQ (Italy). This was done in anticthere was a general consensus that the
ipation of the global automotive stangeneric ISO 9000 standards – the 1987
dard published in 1999 as technical
and 1994 versions – did not fully meet
specification ISO/TS 16949, of which
the sector’s specific requirements, parapproximately 90 % was drawn from
ticularly in respect of the component
QS-9000 and 10 % from European
suppliers on which the car manufacturstandards – mostly VDA 6.1.
ers depend. This point was emphasized
Through the evolution of the sepaby the US “ Big Three” – Daimlerrate
regional requirements (QS-9000,
Chrysler, Ford and General Motors –
VDA 6.1, EAQF, AVSQ), through
and led to their developing QS-9000.
ISO/TS 16949:1999 to the latest
Released in 1995, this included ISO
28
ISO Management Systems – May-June 2003
SPECIAL RE PORT
really is forcing us to address every
ISO/TS 16949:2002, there has been a
aspect of our business.”
move towards concentrating on the
desired results and away from describing “ how to do it ”. While this has
Cascading down
allowed suppliers to adopt a more
flexible approach, it has also led to the
To emphasise the importance of
need for them to incorporate a multithe standard “ cascading down” the
tude of customer specific requiresupply tier chain, Malcolm Neill conments in their QMS. Although this
firms that Visteon insists that its own
need was always present to a lesser or
suppliers also conform to ISO/TS
greater extent, and such requirements
16949 : “ One standard for our suppliwere always liable to auditing by cerers enables us to meet the multiplicitification bodies, there are still some
ty of requirements from the automodifficulties in understanding exactly
bile manufacturers.”
what are the expectations. ISO/TS
His only reservation about the
16949 rules that all customer specific
standard, echoed by some of the
requirements must be covered by the
other commentators, is that it is
initial audit. The expectation is that
sometimes over-prescriptive. He
these are therefore incorporated into
points out : “ Our customers, the
the suppliers’ QMS,
OEM’s, already have
which are then subject to
detailed lists of cusThere has been a move tomer specific requireaudit.
This is satisfactory for towards concentrating ments which are over
the likes of the Big
and above those in the
Three, whose Failure on the desired results standard. The standard
Mode
and
Effects
could reflect that.”
and away from
Analysis (FMEA) issued
Customer specifics
by
the Automotive
are not the only chaldescribing
Industry Action Group
lenges when applying
‘ how to do it ’
(AIAG) is common to
certification to automoFord, General Motors
tive suppliers. There are
and DaimlerChrysler and therefore
a number of issues that are being tackapplicable to all their suppliers.
led to make the process more effecHowever, German manufacturers
tive :
specify a system FMEA based on
Firstly, the accreditation bodies
VDA 4, which differs from the AIAG
that approve the certification bodies
document. These matters are imporas competent were not themselves
tant, not only for the audit process, but
seen to be fully effective in the eyes
more importantly for the suppliers,
of the OEM’s. As a result, the
who need to operate systems that meet
International Automotive Task Force
the requirements of all their cus(IATF) has taken overall control and
tomers.
appointed a number of oversight
The views of a major component
offices to fulfil this role for ISO/TS
manufacturer like Visteon are also
16949 certification.
relevant. Malcolm Neill, Visteon’s
Secondly, some certification bodies
Quality System Manager, Europe, is
were also judged by the OEM’s not to
in no doubt about the importance of
be fully effective which, added to a
the latest version of ISO/TS 16949:
certain lack of confidence in third
“ Quite simply, possession of ISO/TS
party certification itself, has led to dif16949 is a pre-condition of doing
fering levels adopted by OEM’s, some
business – it’s really an operating sysof which require certification, whilst
tem. It gives us an opportunity to
others look for conformity only.
achieve a level of capability in the
Variation in the competence of certifieyes of our customers, the vehicle
cation bodies was the main reason
manufacturers. The latest standard
why the OEM’s took direct control
ISO Management Systems – May-June 2003
29
SPECIAL RE PORT
through the appointed oversight
offices. Their plans now include a
driving licence-type points system
being introduced to provide a measure for the performance of certification bodies.
Thirdly, there is also variation
among suppliers in respect of both
the understanding and application of
core tools. The situation has not been
helped in some cases by the OEM’s
not working in partnership. Examples
are late design changes and refusal to
accept responsibility after having
“ moved the goal posts ”.
The arrival of the Japanese plants
on British soil was to have far-reaching consequences for the British
automotive industry, whose image
had not been helped by years of
industrial unrest and the unflattering
parts per million (ppm) reject levels
of components from United Kingdom
suppliers, compared with those from
Japan. But against this backdrop, the
Japanese original equipment manufacturers were committed to using a
progressively higher level of components and sub-systems being sourced
from within Europe.
Total business systems
The common structure
and similar purposes of
ISO 9001 and ISO 14001
are making it easier
for total business
management systems to
be developed
30
Finally, the current rules on nonconformities by suppliers can automatically result in probation and delisting. This can lead to suppliers
showing a lack of transparency in their
dealings with certification bodies and
a tendency to take ineffective shortterm measures to deal with nonconformities, instead of developing robust
solutions to prevent recurrence.
Another initiative to improve supplier performance has been the
Society of Motor Manufacturers &
Traders (SMMT) Industry Forum
that followed the arrival in the
United Kingdom of Japan’s three
automotive manufacturing giants to
supply the European market. Honda
set up its first plant in Swindon,
Wiltshire, in 1985 ; Nissan began production in Sunderland, Tyne and
Wear in 1986 ; and Toyota’s operations commenced in Burnaston,
Derbyshire and Flintshire, North
Wales, in 1992.
ISO Management Systems – May-June 2003
Despite a measure of disagreement by both OEM’s and suppliers
on certain aspects of certification, the
common structure and similar purposes of ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 are
making it easier for total business
management systems to be developed, together with integrated audits.
This is meeting the increased demand
from clients, not only to reduce certification costs, but also their own
internal costs to support the audits.
Kirsty Allen, of Toyota, would like
to believe it possible for the two ISO
management system standards, ISO
9001 and ISO 14001, to merge eventually into one joint standard, commenting, “ The environmental perspective will become increasingly
important. But we also believe that
the guidelines for improvement in
ISO 9004 will also become more
important.”
With an improved understanding
between all the parties involved, this
will lead to improved relationships
being established and a robust and
respected certification system that
will benefit all stakeholders.
SPECIAL RE PORT
Management
systems in
the automotive
sector
How Japan’s
car manufacturers rate
ISO 9000 and ISO 14000
BY
H ITOSHI S ASAKI
ISO Management Systems is particularly excited to be able to offer readers a rare
insight into the attitudes of Japanese car manufacturers towards
management system standards. In a sector which is coming to terms with major change,
ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 are seen as potentially useful tools in supplier evalution,
particularly in global procurement. At the same time, whether the requirement is quality
or environment-related, Japan’s manufacturers insist on proof in the product.
Status symbol becomes necessity
In Japan in the 1960’s, the motor
car was considered to be a luxury
item and if a family had a car, it had
the value of status symbol, denoting
the family as rich. Today, cars are
becoming an absolute necessity for
almost everyone and the norm in
some of our cities may even be
approaching one car per adult.
Japanese car manufacturers no
longer rely, therefore, on cars selling as
long as they are of high quality (what is
known
as
the
“ product out ” strategy). They have
now started focusing their attention
on specific customers and catering
to customer needs
and demands (“ market in ” strategy).
This customer-oriented approach also
forms the basis of the management system in its current evolution.
In contrast to the past, when the
car was a status symbol – almost an
Hitoshi Sasaki is Director,
Quality Management Bureau,
Management Systems Sector,
of the Japan Quality
Assurance Organization
Japan Quality Assurance Organization
(JQA), ATT-Akasaka Twin Tower
Building, 2-17-22 Akasaka,
Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-0052, Japan.
Tel. + 81 3 3584 9123.
Fax + 81 3 3224 9002.
E-mail h-sasaki@jqa-iso.com
Web www.jqa.jp
ISO Management Systems – May-June 2003
31
SPECIAL RE PORT
ornament – customers today want a
The Japanese automotive
car that is both attractive and practisector today
cal. The key point is whether they
In the highly competitive global
have a feeling of satisfaction that
market, even Japanese car manufacmakes the investment worthwhile.
turers are forced to accept foreign
Customers selecting branded cars by
capital or collaborate with leading
reputed manufacturers is on the
overseas competitors. Such research
decline. On the contrary, it is not
and development collaborations
unusual for customers today to
automatically lead to more varieties
choose a car from a new manufacturof product and thus
er as long as it meets
enhance the capacity to
their requirements.
What, therefore, is It is important to build develop new models,
including energy-saving
“ an attractive car ”
a solid management cars. Moreover, as a
today ? The answer lies
in
the
correlation
system that can cope result of standardizing
components, joint purbetween
satisfactory
with any situation
chasing, standardizaperformance/function
tion/expansion of sales
and the price. Car mannetworks, cost reduction and an
ufacturers must undertake various
increase in sales capacity can be
measures to achieve competitive
expected.
pricing, while simultaneously improvThe production base is likely to be
ing the performance/function.
shifted to Southeast Asian countries
Developing cars with beneficial
such as China, where labour is cheap,
features alone
in order to achieve overall cost
is not enough.
reduction. There may be a concomiCar manufactant increase in the local (on-site)
turers will be
procurement rate of components and
compelled to
the finished goods will be re-importtake systematic
ed to Japan. Alternatively, the proaction that may
duction base may be transferred to a
affect
the
country that was originally an export
organization of
destination, and the transportation
existing mancosts and exchange risks will be elimagement sysinated.
tems. In fact,
However, new issues have now
car manufaccome into play. Collaborations with
turers underother companies have led to greater
take
cost-reduction
activities
need for the establishment of a comthroughout companies, constantly
munication method to share informaracking their brains in collaboration
tion and to convey accurate/rapid
with all employees (including shopinformation. Moreover, with the
floor workers) to develop processes
transfer of production operations
that produce quality cars with the
overseas, it also becomes necessary to
most rational design at low cost.
establish a supply chain management
In addition, it is important to
system that includes components/mabuild a solid management system
terial manufacturers.
that can cope with any situation.
In order to preserve the core of
Manufacturers must also contemJapanese industry, a precise division
plate how to create a mechanism that
of labour between the Japanese factopromotes improvement throughout
ry and the local factory, as well as a
companies on a permanent basis.
mechanism to promote the high
added value of Japanese factories, will
be important while ensuring the
32
ISO Management Systems – May-June 2003
SPECIAL RE PORT
Japanese hallmarks of kaizen (improvement), and traditional knowhow.
The sector’s attitudes towards
ISO 9000
kaizen, “ mistake proofing ”, and
“ first-in first-out (FIFO) ” that originated in Japan, where they have been
in practice for a very long time. The
Japanese term kaizen has been
adopted globally, and is used more
commonly than the English term
“ improvement ”.
Moreover, each company has its
own levels of requirements for suppliers.
While
some car companies expect
suppliers to obtain ISO 9000
or
QS-9000
third-party certification, others require only
voluntary conformity to standards and do not enforce certification.
The most important point here is
the choice of a way to cope with the
above issues. For most Japanese
automotive component suppliers, the
way chosen is to implement ISO 9000
or QS-9000 Quality System Requirements developed by the American
“ Big Three ” automotive manufacturers. QS-9000 is based on the ISO
9000:1994 family and incorporates
requirements specific to the automotive industry.
A future option is ISO/TS 16949,
Quality management systems –
Particular requirements for the application of ISO 9001:2000 for automotive production and relevant service
parts organizations, which is being
Collapse of the Keiretsu
implemented worldwide, including by
European car manufacturers.
One aspect in which Japanese car
However, the present uptake of
manufacturers differ from their
ISO 9000 by Japanese car manufacWestern counterparts is in the existurers has been rather unspectacular
tence of a unique supply chain called
compared to that of other industries,
Keiretsu. This means that one final
and the manner of its adoption is difassembly car manufacturer forms the
ferent from company to company.
apex, while many subcontractors
On the one hand, there have been
known as Keiretsu form tiers under it.
companies that have gone ahead with
They are usually subsidiaries of a
the introduction of the standards in
major car manufacturer for whom
the belief that if certithey tend to work
fication to standards
exclusively.
The present uptake of
in the ISO 9000 family
The car manufacis obtained, they will
turer
provides leaderISO 9000 by Japanese
benefit from a partial
ship for the subconcar manufacturers
exemption of the factractors and depends
tory audits carried out
on them for procurehas been rather
by customers as part
ment of most of their
of the latter’s product unspectacular compared to components. Such a
audits.
system succeeded in
that
of
other
industries
On the other hand,
nurturing long-term
since the QS-9000 or
trust and reliability
ISO/TS 16949 requirements have
that transcended the need for a contract between the two parties, leading
already been adequately met by the
to mutual cooperation in times of
Japanese automotive industry, some
boom and recession alike. The system
companies do not consider it neceshas thus greatly contributed to the
sary to introduce these standards. In
production of high-quality cars under
fact, the requirements of these stanthe “ umbrella ” of leading companies.
dards reflect many techniques such as
ISO Management Systems – May-June 2003
33
SPECIAL RE PORT
Lately, however, cracks have
In this new context, obtaining ISO
appeared in the Keiretsu unity. With
9000 certification serves as an objecthe inflow of foreign direct capital
tive demonstration of quality and a
investment, there has been a corremeans of attracting customers.
sponding influx of “ rational ” busiOptions are thus increasing for
ness models of the European and
component/material procurement,
American styles. This development
although procurement of specific
can be attributed to the adverse
components or materials tends to foleffects of total dependency on the
low a pattern. The patterns include
Keiretsu – especially during a receswhether it would be better to pursion, when manufacturers are comchase a material globally and send it
pelled by necessity to curtail procureto a production base, or whether it
ment costs.
would be better to have local (onAt
such
site) procurement at a production
times, having a
base, or have it produced in Japan if it
wide range of
is an essential component. ISO 9000
competent supmay be also be used as a standard to
pliers available
evaluate these options.
outside
the
Keiretsu makes
Results-oriented approach
it possible to
select the most
It can therefore be seen from the
competitive.
above that the Japanese automotive
ISO 9000 stanindustry has also adopted global standards may be
dards for quality assurance and quality
used as the
management systems. However, it is
evaluation standard for that selecimportant to remember that Japanese
tion. ISO 9000 enables manufacturers
car manufacturers strongly support a
to determine whether the subconresults-oriented approach. Having a
tractors have introduced and are
good management system is not, of
applying a managecourse, contradictory
ment system – and one
with obtaining good
based on global stanISO 9000 has proved to be results in terms of
dards. ISO 9000 has
quality and achieveproved to be quite use- quite useful in evaluating ments.
But
when
ful in evaluating subresults are bad, the
subcontractors with
contractors with which
manufacturer’s evaluathe manufacturer has
which the manufacturer tion will not be positive
never done business
even if the procedure
has never done business or mechanism is good.
before.
Suppliers too are
No matter how
before
not content with their
many ISO 9000 and
Keiretsu experience.
ISO 14001 certificaPreviously, the choice of suppliers
tions are obtained, Japanese car manavailable to car manufacturers was
ufacturers believe that certification
limited and so suppliers enjoyed stadoes not necessarily guarantee prodbility of orders. Henceforth, if they
uct quality because it is only a miniare trustworthy, the chances of
mum requirement. In their view, what
receiving orders from other car manis important is a confident manufacufacturers outside the Keiretsu are
turer with a sense of responsibility in
getting higher. If they do not have
realizing the production of excellent
such a good reputation, the fear is
cars under a thorough management
growing of being deserted even by
system.
car manufacturers who have dealt
This philosophy is recognized not
with them in the past.
only in Japan, but also by car manu-
34
ISO Management Systems – May-June 2003
SPECIAL RE PORT
facturers all over the world and is
sometimes be cleaner than the surtaken into account in the QS-9000
rounding air. A next step is the techand ISO/TS 16949 requirements. This
nological development whereby the
explains why requirements related to
exhaust gas itself will not be dis“ Performance ” are included in both
charged.
QS-9000 and ISO/TS 16949, even
Moreover, the approach by manuthough absent from
facturing plants difthe ISO 9000 family. It
fers somewhat to that
can even be said that The number is growing of of automobile retail
this viewpoint is especar manufacturers obtaining outlets. For example,
cially strong in Japan.
the factories make
efforts in the area of
ISO 14001 certification
“green procurement”
Attitudes towards ISO in order to prove that they to conserve resources
14001
have fulfilled their 'social and to reduce the
impact on the enviNow let us consider
responsibility'
ronment of waste;
the
approach
of
suppliers are comJapanese car manufacpelled to obtain ISO 14001 certificaturers towards ISO 14001. It seems
tion, etc.. That
that the number is growing of car
said, the retail outmanufacturers obtaining ISO 14001
lets too are adoptcertification in order to prove that
ing a multi-faced
they have fulfilled their “ social
approach to proresponsibility ” and thus raising the
tecting and imcompany image.
proving the enviThe Japanese automotive industry
ronment with the
considers that “ the car itself is an
drawing up of an
environment ”. In this light, an awareindependent
ness of the need for “ developing an
“ Green Charter ”,
environment-friendly product (the
based on ISO
car) ”, seems to be stronger than
14001.
building an environment-friendly
ISO 14001 will
mechanism (the management sysbe also be used as
tem).
a tool in the process of developing
At present, cars that minimize the
the car as “ an environmentally
use of natural resources and the disfriendly vehicle ”, or in some cases, as
charge of exhaust gas emissions are
“ an environmentally friendly object ”
being actively developed. These
for 100 % recycling. Based on these
include Low Emission Vehicles
concepts, cars will be further devel(LEV’s) such as methanol-fuelled
oped as environmentally friendly
cars, natural gas (CNG) cars, and
products in future.
hybrid cars. There are also developments going a step further with Zero
Emission Vehicles (ZEV’s), such as
Future evolution
fuel cell cars.
Now I will turn to my views on the
Technologies in these cars have
evolution of the future business envibeen upgraded to such an extent that
ronment of Japanese car manufacturthey impact the environment posiers and its repercussions on managetively, rather than merely minimizing
ment system standards.
the adverse effects on the environThe first point to take note of is
ment. The more a car is driven, the
the huge potential of China. Not only
more the environment is improved,
does China, with population of 1,300
especially in areas where terrible polmillion, offer enormous sales possilution has occurred. In other words,
bilities, but in addition its labour
the gas discharged from a car could
ISO Management Systems – May-June 2003
35
SPECIAL RE PORT
costs are cheap (about one-tenth
The most important point is not
those of Japan). The production base
merely to operate the quality manwill therefore shift to China and the
agement system, but to raise effecsales network there is being strengthtiveness by doing so. If the requireened. These trends are expected to
ments related to the product are not
continue in the future.
fulfilled,
Japanese
The next point is
manufacturers
will
ISO
14001
will
be
also
be
that there have been an
often visit the subconincreasing number of
tractor directly to recused as a tool in the
partnerships between
tify the problem –
domestic and overseas process of developing the which
may
even
groups. One such trend car as ‘ an environmentally include
modifying
is that car manufacturtheir processes –
friendly
vehicle
’
ers who had up to now
rather than request
been rivals join forces
voluntary corrective
to develop LEV’s. Another is that
actions through the management syscompanies with no experience in light
tem.
motor vehicles tie up with the leading
It may be a harsh statement to
manufacturers and expand their busimake, but it should be noted that at
ness into production and sales.
present, Japanese car manufacturers
In view of these trends, the necesare just not satisfied with subcontracsity to spread the implementation of
tors obtaining QS-9000 or ISO/TS
management system standards as a
16949 alone – not to mention ISO
means of evaluating suppliers and
9000 certification. The future will
sharing informaclarify, in response to the evolution of
tion will probaQS-9000, ISO/TS 16949 and other
bly increase. In
such standards, just how far Japanese
such a case,
car manufacturers will go in adopting
selecting subthe standards for evaluating subconcontractors by
tractors.
specialized stanLast but not least, third party
dards for the
auditors in the Japanese automotive
automotive secsector will be required to conduct
tor, QS-9000 or
what is known as “ an utmost care
ISO/TS 16949,
audit ”, which is similar to a second
will
probably
party audit as currently carried out
prove to be
on suppliers by the car manufacturadopted more
ers. This can be described as auditing
widely by the manufacturing base
for “ a more than satisfactory ” level
than ISO 9000.
that reveals attentiveness to the cusHowever, we have seen that many
tomer’s every need, included implied
Japanese car manufacturers are still
ones.
evaluating subcontractors on the
In more colourful language,
basis of requirements specific to each
Japanese car manufacturers will
company and not just by the global
expect their suppliers to be so
standards (ISO 9000 family/QSattuned to the customer’s need that
9000/ISO/TS 16949, etc.). As menthey will know when he has an itch on
tioned previously, it is necessary for
his back that needs scratching, just by
the purchasing company to see
the expression on his face.
whether the requirements for prodAs a country often attributed with
uct (quality, cost, delivery date and
having had a certain role in “ inventtime) are fulfilled. This objective goes
ing ” the modern quality movement,
beyond satisfying the requirements
Japan places the bar very high.
related to the quality management
system.
36
ISO Management Systems – May-June 2003
SPECIAL RE PORT
Management
systems in
the automotive
sector
Finland’s Volvo network and the
environment benefit from country-wide
ISO 14001 certification
BY
Teemu Kemppi, technician
at Bilia Kaivoksela, sorts
used paper-based air
filters and metal-based
oil filters into separate
disposal/recycling
containers, as part of the
company’s ISO 14001certified environmental
management processes.
M ATTI S OVIJÄRVI
The author, Matti
Sovijärvi, is a
freelance journalist
who writes for Volvo
Auto Oy Ab, and for
industry journals.
While the motor car has a major impact on the environment, car dealerships also generate
substantial waste from servicing and repairs. However, Volvo Auto, Finnish importer
of Volvo cars, and its large dealer, insurance and finance network, has implemented an
organization-wide ISO-14001 environmental management system, resulting in significant
waste reduction, increased recycling, and benefits to the bottom line.
V
olvo Auto Oy Ab 1), exclusive
Finnish importer of Volvo cars,
and all Volvo retailers in the country
have become the first of such motor
trade networks to receive ISO 14001
environmental management system
(EMS) certification. Encompassing
some 50 subsidiary retailers, private
authorized dealers and associated
insurance and finance companies, they
are also the first in Volvo’s global
organization to achieve the distinction.
1) Volvo Oy Ab, Public Relations,
Taivaltie 1. FIN-01610 Vantaa,
Finland.
Tel.
Fax
E-mail
+ 358 9 5044 5326.
+ 358 9 566 8972.
msuursoh@volvocars.com
ISO Management Systems – May-June 2003
37
SPECIAL RE PORT
Mikko Laurinus, Manager of
the Bilia Volvo dealership,
was able to incorporate
stringent ISO 14001-based
requirements covering service
and repair operations, as well
as waste handling, into the
design of the company’s new
auto centre in the Helsinki
suburb of Herttoniemi.
Ari Kettunen, of Volvo Auto
dealer Bilia Herttoniemi,
Helsinki, drains used engine
oil from a vehicle prior to
environmentally responsible
treatment and disposal
in accordance with the
company’s ISO 14001-based
management system.
2) Lloyd’s Register Quality
Assurance (LRQA), Aleksanterinkatu
48 A, SF-00100 Helsinki, Finland.
Tel.
Fax
E-mail
Web
38
+ 358 9 4761 4461.
+ 358 9 4761 4471.
helsinki@lrqa.com
www.lrqa.com
entire life cycle of the Volvo S80 has
The successful network-wide audit
been ISO 14001-certified in Finland.
and certification process was carried
out by Lloyd’s Register Quality
Assurance 2).
A joint effort
For decades, concern for the enviMikko Laurinus was one of the
ronment has been one of Volvo’s core
instigators of the EMS certification
values. As far back as the 1970’s,
programme while still a local managVolvo’s then CEO, Per Gyllenhammar,
er for the importers, Volvo Auto. He
declared that the time for apologies
now heads the large,
was over and that the
modern Bilia garage
motor industry had to
shoulder its responsi- For decades, concern for owned by a Volvo
bility for the environ- the environment has been dealer in Helsinki.
“ Towards the end
ment, in addition to
one of Volvo's core values of the 1990’s, we comsafety.
mitted the entire
But the environFinnish Volvo organization to the
mental impacts of a motor car are
environmental programme, specifiextremely complex, and involve the
cally to obtain internationally recogproduct life cycle from manufacture
nized ISO 14001 certification – one of
to retail sales, and from servicing to
the most difficult certificates to
final disposal.
obtain,” Mr. Laurinus says. In his
Volvos were among the first priview, other environmental certifivate cars fitted with catalytic convertcates, such as that issued by the
ers, a new technology that reduced
Finnish vehicle trade lobby, AKL, set
emissions radically. The first convertmuch less severe demands on compaers cut noxious
nies and their activities.
exhaust emissions
“ The AKL certificate is definitely
by as much as
a step in the right direction, and a
90 %, while the
good start for companies that had not
latest versions are
previously shown concern for the
able to reduce
environmental impacts of their activeven these levels
ities, but it is only a stepping stone to
by a significant
achieving the more exacting ISO
amount.
14001 certification,” he asserts.
Volvo’s misFrom the very beginning of consion to investigate
struction of a new garage in the
the environmenHelsinki suburb of Herttoniemi, Mr.
tal impact of the
Laurinus was able to incorporate
motor car began
stringent ISO 14001-based requirein the 1970’s with the development of
ments covering service and repair
production processes that would put a
operations, as well as waste handling.
minimal burden to the environment.
One example was the changeover to
water-soluble paints far less polluting
Investing in the future
than previously used.
Another achievement has been
Mr. Laurinus emphasizes that
the “ cradle to grave ” cycle, from prowhile meeting ISO 14001 standards
duction to dismantling and recycling
required a major effort, it was a sensiprocesses, for the S80 model, also
ble investment in the future. Adopting
awarded ISO 14001 certification.
the necessary working practices
Every plastic component, for exammeant training staff and investing in
ple, is marked by polymer type so the
facilities and equipment, but mainmaterial can be recycled. In effect,
taining the EMS is now no more diffiwith certification of importation,
cult or costly than running a less envirepair and servicing processes, the
ronmentally aware operation.
ISO Management Systems – May-June 2003
SPECIAL RE PORT
However, he points out that it
heightened not only in the real world,
would not have been possible to
but also in the way people think.
obtain ISO 14001 certification withThat’s why we are convinced that
out the enthusiastic commitment of
investing in the environment is
the entire workforce. “ We had to be
extremely worthwhile, especially in
very sincere about working to protect
the long term.”
the environment, by demonstrating
Mr. Laurinus emphasizes that
our serious commitment to the exactenvironmental legislation will only
ing standard right from the beginbecome tougher and that companies
ning.
in the automotive business will face
“ Having made the initial effort to
increasing demands to reduce polluimprove job practices, we discovered
tion. “ It is better to take action
that it takes about the same effort to
before we are forced to do so,” he
throw waste into a heap, for example,
maintains.
as it does to separate the materials as
“ Many Volvo dealers and service
soon as we create them. It’s mainly
companies are private firms, for
about assimilating the working methwhom ISO 14001 certification meant
ods, and these can be seen now in our
a significant initial outlay. Even so, all
everyday routines,” Mr. Laurinus
dealers committed themselves to the
explains.
process at a very early stage. We all
“ It’s mainly a matter of principle
want to play our part in helping the
– ‘do as you say’. As an international
environment – as well as being sucorganization, Volvo is committed to
cessful car dealers in the future, too.”
taking care of the environment and
we must demonstrate our involveCaring for car and environment
ment by actions as much as words,”
he says. But he points out that
A car dealership places a surprisbesides involvement and investment
ingly large burden on the environtoday, it is also necessary to pay
ment, mainly as a result of servicing
attention to the long-term effects of
and repairs. A major dealership like
caring for the environment.
Bilia can produce as much as two
“ Our customers are extremely
tonnes of waste per day, most of
well versed in environmental matters
which can be recycled or used to proand many of them are deeply conduce energy.
cerned about such
“An important part
issues. For example,
of our environmental
forestry
companies We committed the entire work is developing the
are important clients Finnish Volvo organization right
methods
of
of ours and they often
measurement,” comrequire their suppliers to obtain internationally ments Hannu Sinisalo,
to have the same enviwho is in charge of
recognized ISO 14001
ronmental certificaBilia’s environmental
certification
tion as themselves.
affairs. “ We have 22
“ We have also
different waste catetrained our sales staff to raise envigories and we are able to monitor the
ronmental issues in their discussions
progress of each. We know precisely
with customers. Private buyers and
what should be recycled, treated as
their families are also interested in
hazardous waste, or put on the landthe environmental effects of cars,”
fill.” Without appropriate measurenotes Mr. Laurinus. “ We could not
ment techniques, he notes, it would
even talk about these matters unless
not even be possible to gauge the real
we first took responsibility ourselves.
effects on the environment.
“ Much of the decision to buy a car
Mr. Sinisalo emphasizes the
is based on brand image. The imporimportance of sorting out the landfill
tance of caring for the environment is
waste from waste that can be used to
Used cardboard packaging is
fed into a cardboard pressing
machine by Juha Tähtinen, in
preparation for recycling.
Juha Tähtinen, Spare Parts
Manager at Bilia Herttoniemi,
who is also responsible
for environmental issues,
separates metal waste
resulting from auto servicing
and repair, ready for
recycling.
ISO Management Systems – May-June 2003
39
SPECIAL RE PORT
Hannu Sinisalo,
Environmental Manager at
Bilia, one of the largest
dealers of the ISO 14001certified network of Volvo
Auto, Finland, in front of
the recycling area at the
company’s Kaivoksela,
Vantaa, branch.
Before old shock absorbers
are sorted for metal recycling
at Bilia Herttoniemi, the
components are drilled
to release oil for separate
disposal.
40
produce energy. Bilia has made a
determined effort to reduce the
amount of waste it sends to the landfill and succeeded in bringing this
down from 30 % of total waste in
1999 to about 9 % today.
“ We’ll be able to make further
improvements,” he says. For instance,
we must still develop a system for
recycling broken or damaged windscreens. Nevertheless, we have consigned about 200 tonnes less waste to
rubbish dumps during the past three
years than we would have done without our environmental effort.”
Bilia began planning its environmental programme in the summer of
1998, and had its own ISO 14001-certified EMS in place at all sites by the
autumn of 1999.
“ We’ve had an excellent monitoring system in place since 2000 which
allows us to measure the precise
amount of waste handled and sorted
every day. By sorting material to be
used as a fuel source and separating
small metal objects, we have greatly
reduced the amount of waste going to
landfill dumps,” says Mr. Sinisalo.
He underlines the importance of
clear guidelines if sorting and recycling of large quantities of waste is
to be carried out effectively.
Furthermore, some of the refuse
from a dealership consists of troublesome hazardous waste, which has
to be treated with special care at a
dedicated industry facility.
ISO Management Systems – May-June 2003
Car dealers must often use vehicle
servicing products – such as chemicals, oils and spare parts – manufactured and packed by others. Suppliers
that care about the environment
order chemicals and lubricants in
barrels, or take delivery by tanker
rather than in small plastic bottles.
However, for protection of fragile
spare parts, it is often necessary to
use complex packaging made of different materials.
“ Of course, we use materials and
spare parts specified by Volvo, but we
try to avoid disposable packaging as
long as we can trust the quality of the
product,” Mr. Sinisalo points out.
“ For instance, we use 150 000 litres of
motor oil a year, which would cause
an enormous volume of waste if
delivered in small canisters instead of
by tanker.”
Economic benefits from
environmental efforts
“ Everyone who works for Bilia
undergoes environmental training.
All new employees also receive environmental instruction during two or
three induction sessions a year as
part of their job training,” he
explains.
The firm also invested heavily in
the physical environment, since waste
sorting requires special containers
for different materials. However,
although the overall cost of ISO
14001 certification is difficult to estimate, Mr. Sinisalo says it represents a
considerable outlay for a major dealership like Bilia.
“ But it is not simply a question of
costs. Landfill fees have risen sharply
in Finland and they will do so again
in about a year’s time. So Bilia will
derive a direct economic benefit from
its environmental efforts in addition
to the huge indirect benefits.”
I N TE RN ATI O NAL
Japanese survey reveals
timescale and benefits
of ISO 9001:2000 transition
“ How long does it
take to transition
from ISO 9001:1994
to ISO 9001:2000 ? ”
and “ What are the
challenges and the
benefits ? ”
This article provides
answers to these and
related questions
gleaned from a recent
survey of 630 companies
in Japan that made
the upgrade.
D
uring May to June 2002, the
Japan
Quality
Assurance
Organization (JQA) conducted a survey of 730 companies in Japan, previously certified to 1994 versions of
ISO 9000 standards, that have made
the transition to ISO 9001:2000.
When the revised standard was published on 15 December 2000, organizations were given three years to
make the transition. The companies
figuring in the Japanese survey were
therefore organizations that had
made a decision to be leaders, rather
than followers, in the transition
process.
The objectives of the survey were
to find out how quickly these companies had made the transition, if they
had experienced difficulties in doing
so, their reactions to the key requirements of the 2000 version, and the
benefits of having made the change.
Results were based on answers from
630 companies, representing a very
high response rate of 82,6 %. The
principal findings are summarized
below
1
How long did the ISO 9001:2000
transition take ?
The transition process ranged
from less than three months to more
than one year. Nearly 60 %, completed the task within a year, a further
24,5 % made the transition within six
months, 2,8 % in as little as three
months, while 13,2 % required over a
year. Interestingly, the findings indicated that as company size became
smaller, so the transition period was
likely to be shorter (see Table 1.1,
overleaf).
BY
T OSHIO Y OKOMIZO
The author, Toshio Yokomizo,
is Executive Board Director
of Japan Quality Assurance
Organization (JQA).
Japan Quality Assurance
Organization (JQA), ATTAkasaka Twin Tower Building,
1-9-15 Akasaka, Minato-ku,
Tokyo 107-0052, Japan.
Contact: Sumio Asada,
International Bureau, JQA.
Tel.
Fax
E-mail
Web
+ 81 3 3584 9123.
+ 81 3 3224 9002.
y-fukui@jqa-iso.com
www.jqa.jp
ISO Management Systems – May-June 2003
41
I N TE RN ATI O NAL
Respondents drew on various
information and support sources
before undertaking the transition of
their organization’s quality management system (QMS). This was predominently divided between communication with auditors, input from
seminars conducted by JQA and others, and guidance from books and documents on the subject (see Table 1.2).
Transition audits took place relatively quickly following the decision
to make the change, mainly because
an ISO 9001:1994-based QMS was
already in place, and through effective information gathering on the
subject. Over half the companies
based their responses on less than a
year’s experience since implementa-
Less than 3 months
tion, 27,4 % on six months, while
21,2 % had operated in accordance
with the 2000 version of the standard
for over a year (see Table 1.3).
2
Why did you decide on early
ISO 9001:2000 transition ?
The principal reasons for making
the early transition to ISO 9001:2000
were based on expectations of the
effectiveness of the new version and
efforts to avoid in-house confusion
through long drawn out system
changes (see Table 2.). Respondent
companies were clearly determined
to make the transition as smooth,
practical and trouble-free as possible
to gain early benefits.
Table 1.1 – How long did the ISO 9001:2000 transition take ?
Less than 6 months
Less than 1 year
More than 1 year
No response
Communication with auditors
Table 1.2 – What did you use to guide you in the QMS transition ?
Imput from seminars
Imput from companies
already transitioned
Advice from consultants
Books and documents on
the subject
Others
Less than 6 months
Table 1.3 – How long has your ISO 9001:2000 QMS been in operation?
Less than 1 year
More than 1 year
No response
42
ISO Management Systems – May-June 2003
I N TE RN ATI O NAL
In expectation of 2000
version effectiveness
Table 2 – Why did you decide on early ISO 9001:2000 transition ?
In order to develop an
enhanced and flexible system
To promote an advanced
QM image
To avoid in-house confusion
Customer request
Following group policy
Others
Some companies noted the compatibility of the new version with
ISO 14001 and to the benefit of integrating quality and environmental
management systems.
3
What are your expectations of
ISO 9001:2000 ?
“ Improved performance” (50,1%)
and “ ease of use ” (27,8 %) were seen
as the greatest expectations of ISO
9001:2000 (see Table 3.1).
Companies were then asked to
rank the main requirements of ISO
9001:2000 in terms of expected
effect on QMS performance. Some
26 % expected greater effectiveness
from the revised requirement for
“ continual improvement ”, followed
by a stronger “ focus on the customer ”, and the “ process approach ”
(see Table 3.2). These findings could
be interpreted to reflect the respondent’s expectations of improved
effectiveness in the overall QMS.
Table 3.1 – What are your expectations of ISO 9001:2000 ?
Performance improvement
Easier to use and closer to
quality and production management systems used in
manufacturing
Not a big change from before
The requirements seem
a little too broad
Others
Table 3.2 – Which of the key 2000 version requirements will have
the greatest effect ?
Enhancement of the top
management role
The process approach
Continual improvement
Customer focus
Resource management
Monitoring and measurement
of processes
Internal audit
Others
ISO Management Systems – May-June 2003
43
I N TE RN ATI O NAL
4
Are you satisfied with the effects
of ISO 9001:2000 in operation ?
There was a generally high degree
of satisfaction concerning the effect
of ISO 9001:2000-based systems in
operation – irrespective of company
size and industry sector (see Table
4.1). However, over 20 % could not
give a definite answer, many citing
“ too short an operating period to
judge effects ” as the reason.
Many respondents rated the
opportunity to simplify their existing
QMS, the customer-oriented process
approach, and similar performanceimproving aspects more highly than
the conventional responses of “ a
reduction in defects and complaints ”
and “ greater QMS stability ” (see
Table 4.2). This might suggest a deeper understanding of ISO 9001:2000
than of the earlier versions and a
Very satisfied
Generally satisfied
greater intention by companies to
utilize the QMS to deliver benefits.
Some individual opinions associated “ QMS operating effects ” with
“ effects of PDCA (Plan, Do, Check,
Act) ”, “ closeness to the actual business ” and “ consistency with management plan ”. Some noted the positive
effects of encouraging management
commitment.
5
Which planned improvements
have you achieved in transition
to ISO 9001:2000 ?
Almost all responded to this question, and many with multiple answers.
Most planned creatively for their
own QMS transition, taking their
unique characteristics into account,
to ensure maximum QMS improvement as a result of the change
process.
Table 4.1 – Are you satisfied with the effects of ISO 9001:2000
in operation ?
Not sure
Slightly dissatisfied
Dissatisfied
No response
Enhancement of customer
focus – improvement in
customer satisfaction
Table 4.2 – Identify the key effects of implementing ISO 9001:2000
Profit improvement from effect
of process approach on quality, cost and delivery
Continual QMS improvement through PDCA
Greater top management
involvement and enhanced
business planning
QMS stability
Decrease in defects and claims
QMS simplification resulting
from re-examination of documents and procedures
Others
44
ISO Management Systems – May-June 2003
I N TE RN ATI O NAL
Re-examination of quality
manuals and other system
documentation
Table 5.1 – Which planned improvements have you achieved in
transition to ISO 9001:2000 ?
Enlargement/integration of
sites, divisions and headquarters
Enhancement of QMS compatibility with ISO 14001, OHAS
and other systems
Better QMS adoption/application among design departments
Better understanding of
customer needs
Improved unification/coordination with management and
business planning
Enhancement by IT systems, e.g.
computerization, networking, etc.
Improvement of top-down
bottom-up synergies
Others
Table 5.2 – How has your documentation changed in the transition
process ?
Manuals changed in accordance with the 2000 version,
but lower-level documents
remain unchanged
Only slight changes to
manuals and lower-level
documents
These varied plans included simdocuments such as the quality manuplification of the quality manual and
al in conformity with the new
documentation, reinforcement of
requirements, but left subordinate
market- and customerdocuments intact in
focus, strengthening of
their ISO 9001:1994 verResults were based
system consistency and
sions. This reflected the
its links with business
fact that the 2000 revion answers
projects, schemes to
sion mainly affects the
multiply the effects of
from 630 companies top management level,
top-down and bottomwhile changes at site
up management, and
level are less significant.
upgrading of information systems
Over 30 % of respondents sought
such as electronic documentation (see
to increase the user-friendliness of
Table 5.1).
their manuals, suggesting that many
The conclusion here is that comconsidered the revision a good
panies are making efforts to reinforce
opportunity to improve the in-house
and improve their QMS at the same
usability of the QMS. Conversely, a
time as they make the transition, in
minority preferred to keep document
light of their own past experiences in
system changes to a minimum (see
operating the system.
Table 5.2).
Concerning changes in document
systems, the majority revised key
Manuals and lower-level
documentation revised to
improve efficiency and ease
of use
Others
ISO Management Systems – May-June 2003
45
I N TE RN ATI O NAL
Companies are making
efforts to reinforce and
improve their QMS
at the same time as
they make the transition
In relation to resource management :
Initial concern
Difficulties experienced
6
What difficulties did you
encounter in the transition
process ?
Respondents were asked to
express their initial concerns, and
how these perceived difficulties may
have grown or diminished during the
actual transition experience. Overall,
concerns about eventual difficulties
eased during the transition period
indicating that for many, the transition had taken place more smoothly
than expected.
On the other hand, “ raising
understanding of ISO 9001:2000
requirements ” among employees
proved more difficult than originally
expected for many companies (see
Table 6.1).
The “ process approach ” and
“ monitoring and measurement of
processes ” were the most frequently
reported challenges to adapting an
existing QMS to ISO 9001:2000 (see
Table 6.2).
Table 6.1 – What difficulties did you encounter in the transition
process ?
Appointing employees to
take responsibility for QMS
transition
Raising understanding and
awareness of ISO 9001:2000
requirements
QMS transition cost
Smooth system transition
Consultants fees
Initial concern
Difficulties experienced
Table 6.2 – Which new ISO 9001:2000 requirements caused difficulties ?
Enhancement of top
management role
The process approach
Continual improvement
Customer focus
Monitoring and measurement
of processes
Internal audits
46
ISO Management Systems – May-June 2003
I N TE RN ATI O NAL
To further enhance customeroriented approaches, e.g.
better understanding of
customer requirements,
raising customer satisfaction
Table 6.3 – What future problems or challenges do you anticipate ?
Enhancing the continual QMS
improvement process
Contributing to improvements
in quality, cost and delivery
Enlargement/integration
of sites, divisions and
headquarters
Further improvements in
QMS compatibility with other
management systems
Question 6.3 asked respondents to
anticipate future problems. Measures
to further improve QMS performance
via schemes to enhance customer-orientation, and efforts to ensure continual improvement and performance
improvement were frequently mentioned. Improving employees understanding of the QMS and its implementation was seen as a further
challenge (see Table 6.3).
Identifying trends
The JQA survey has served to
highlight the following trends:
1. Companies expect improved performance
from
their
ISO
9001:2000-based QMS compared
to the 1994 version.
2. Companies are strongly motivated
to put ISO 9001:2000 into operation.
3. A thorough understanding of the
revised standard is required
throughout the organization.
4. There is a need for greater standardization among auditors in the
interpretation of audits.
5. Increasing use of third party audits
is required to activate corporate
quality management systems.
Currently, the biggest challenges
for registrars are to minimize the
burden on the companies making the
transition so that the exercise is carried out as smoothly as possible,
while ensuring that ISO 9001:2000 is
enforced effectively. Audit systems
and services need to be strengthened
to do this successfully and maintain
QMS effectiveness and efficiency.
In response, JQA makes continuing efforts to understand the varying
needs and expectations of individual
companies with the goal of improving
the quality of auditing.
Better guidance to enhance
employee understanding
of the QMS and its implementation
Pursuit of greater efficiency
in quality management
Others
JQA in brief
The Japan Quality Assurance Organization (JQA) is a not-for-profit
enterprise specializing in ISO management system certification
services, and safety testing and certification of compliance with a
variety of national and international standards. JQA was established in 1957, initially as a designated inspection body under
Japan's Export Inspection Law. Its work contributed to the post-war
recovery of an export-oriented Japanese economy by testing and
certifying products destined for overseas markets.
Today, more than half of JQA's 885 staff members are engaged in
ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 certification services. In addition, the
organization's services include product and component safety, public health and safety, environmental evaluations, and the authentification of compliance to regulations for fast-growing information
technologies.
Quality assurance and conformity assessment by an impartial thirdparty organization plays an important role in facilitating business
transactions across borders. JQA has strengthened its global network through partnerships with overseas providers of testing and
certification services. Through such networks, JQA promotes costeffective, one-stop-shopping services for multiple access to safety/certification marks in major countries. JQA is a leading member
of the IQNet network of certification bodies which groups 33 partner organizations and 150 subsidiaries worldwide.
Under the current Chairmanship of Masabumi Ono and President
Kenji Sakuma, JQA operates 15 branches throughout Japan, and has
total assets of approximately USD 150 million. Its competent
authority is the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI).
ISO Management Systems – May-June 2003
47
I N TE RN ATI O NAL
Managing organizational
change Part 5 Communication
and change
This article is the fifth in a series dealing with the issue of managing change in organizations. The previous one, which dealt with the stage of awakening to the need for change,
showed that communication has a major influence on the process of organizational change.
Therefore, before going on to the transition and ritualization stages, we shall deal in this
article with communication since understanding the issues at stake in this connection will
prove very useful in the following phases.
BY
48
P IERRE COLLERETTE ,
R OBERT S CHNEIDER ,
AND PAUL L EGRIS
Introduction
When you listen to people talk
about their experience of change, problems of communication are usually at
the forefront. In spite of the persistence of this shortcoming, very few serious studies have been made of the subject with a view to identifying effective
practices. Nevertheless, the scant information available provides a number of
interesting indications. Among them, it
shows that in general, top management
ISO Management Systems – May-June 2003
has an over-simplified idea of what is at
stake in communication and that desirable communication practices are far
removed from management’s usual
reflexes. One common mistake, in particular, is to confuse information with
communication.
The experience of Euram Laboratories
Euram Laboratories, specializing in
the development and marketing of
anti-influenza drugs, employs 850 staff
I N TE RN ATI O NAL
! Circulate
relevant information
spread over five sites in Europe,
about the programme on the comAmerica and Asia. The range of prodpany intranet.
ucts varies somewhat from one site to
another and each is relatively inde! Make available on the intranet a
pendent at the operational level. For
guide to the new system procehistorical reasons, until 2000 each site
dures.
had its own quality management pro! From time to time, convey informagramme. In a highly competitive settion about the programme to the
ting and with a view to obtaining ISO
staff by e-mail.
9000 certification, top management
then decided to introduce a single, uni! Distribute to each staff member a
fied quality management programme.
colour leaflet describing the new
A working group was assigned by
programme.
corporate headquarters to draw up a
! Offer the staff training to introduce
programme suited to the company. A
them to the new programme.
one-year, on-site pilot project was conducted to fine-tune the programme,
after which it was extended to the
whole company. The responsibility for
its implementation was entrusted to
the management team on each site.
At the yearly management review,
the company’s management was
informed about the programme and
the pilot project. The staff received
the same information in the company’s internal magazine, published on
its intranet. The following year, a
progress report on the implementation of the projet was given through
the same channels.
Barbara Turenne is in charge of the
Dutch site. Although in agreement
with the programme, which was periodically discussed in meetings at headquarters, she made a decision to
address the implementation problems
Launched in April 2002, the proearly on and asked the public relations
gramme’s implementation was to be
(PR) department to put forward a
completed by the end of June of that
communication plan.
year. Many problems
Although somewhat
arose, however, and in
surprised, the PR manSeptember, it had to be
Top management has
ager nevertheless subacknowledged that the
mitted the following
an over-simplified idea procedures and mechaplan :
nisms had been applied
of what is at stake
only to a very limited
! Prepare
a poster
extent. To everyone’s
in communication
explaining the new
dismay, it was just
programme
and
about necessary to start
place it where it
again from scratch. It was not until
would easily be seen by staff.
March 2003 that the programme
! Circulate a newsletter-type leaflet
became operational and even then
explaining the programme and
with deadlines and costs that were well
announcing the launching of its
beyond forecasts, and with a high level
implementation.
of discontent among staff and middle
If people perceive
inconsistency between
words and acts,
they will dwell on the
acts rather than on the
words, as if that were
the real message
ISO Management Systems – May-June 2003
49
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A visible commitment
by top management
plays a very important
The researcher Alex Mucchielli
management who generally deplored
(1995)
identified five major issues in
the lack of communication.
communication, only
The communication
one of which concerns
plan, however, had been
fully implemented and Communication consists the information conone can certainly not
of an attempt to reach tent :
accuse Barbara of having acted in bad faith. a common understanding 1. Exchanging information : for example –
Nevertheless, she fell
of life’s experiences
“ The meeting will take
victim to the usual illuplace at 10:00 ”.
sion of believing that
the key issue was that of information –
2. Defining one’s position in relation
which led her to lay emphasis on the
to that of others – “ I do not intend
quality and quantity of information, on
to associate with this project ”.
its presentation and means of diffusion. Unfortunately, things are just not
that simple and some of the real issues
at stake lie elsewhere.
symbolic role in
communication
Communication and its challenges
Contrary to a widespread belief,
the function of communication is not
merely to exchange information, but
also, and above all, consists of an
attempt to reach a common understanding of life’s experiences. In fact, it
involves a continual process of adjustment to establish and maintain a relationship that will evolve in the direction that the participating “ players ”
expect.
Let us take, for instance, the case
of a manager making a presentation
to his staff on a new process he wants
to introduce in the department. On
the one hand, the content of the presentation is flawless: clear, detailed,
documented. On the other hand, his
tone is authoritarian and pontificating. What will the staff first react to
when they come out of the session?.
To the content of his presentation?
No! They will first react to his manner
of communicating, the content being
relegated to the background.
Relational and personal considerations will dominate and will significantly contaminate the interpretation
of the content. In other words, the
staff will endeavour to adjust to the
relationship; therefore, aspects other
than content are at stake and will take
precedence.
50
ISO Management Systems – May-June 2003
3. Influencing the entourage – “ You
should adopt the same procedure
as the other division ”.
4. Maintaining a relationship – “ I’m
glad to see you again ! How are
you ? ”.
5. Adjusting the relationship –
“ You’re talking to loud : that irritates me ! ”.
Our research (1995) and experience suggest that in the context of
change, the information issue is not
paramount. Our work leads us instead
to conclude that if the adjustment to
the relationship has failed to succeed
to the satisfaction of all those present,
the information will not be adequately
I N TE RN ATI O NAL
processed by those for whom the
change is intended. In other words,
communication addresses first of all
the relational aspects and only afterwards is the information conveyed
taken into account, except in urgent
cases, where the information content
takes precedence. Consequently, if the
leader lays the emphasis on the transfer of information, however good it
may be, he may be on the wrong track
and waste his time and energy.
It should be understood that apart
from the information that is being
explicitly circulated, an act of communication conveys several implicit messages that will affect the reception
given to the information. Indeed, we
are usually attentive to a variety of
signs that enable us to position ourselves in relation to the information
received :
1995). This means that all the gestures
of management are part of the communication and not only the information dealing explicitly and intentionally with the change. One day, for
instance, during a tense working session where staff were visibly uneasy at
the anger expressed by their departmental head, the latter exclaimed :
“ Don’t look at what I’m doing ! Listen
to what I am saying ! ” Evidently, that is
something they just could not do !
– Is the speaker being sincere ?
– Does he have the support of his
superiors ?
– Was he successful with his previous
projects ?
– Does he seem to believe in the
project ?
– Is his tone appropriate ?
In fact, research on communication
In short, we closely observe many
shows that if people
aspects of the players,
perceive inconsistency
their behaviour and the
Communication
between words and
context before turning
actions, they will dwell
to the information as
addresses first of all
on the actions rather
such, in order for us to
than on the words, as if
the relational aspects
decide how to deal with
that were the real mesit. Should we :
and only
sage (Watzlawick et al.,
– Try to understand it ?
1972). If you need conafterwards is the
– Reinterpret it ?
vincing, put it to the
information conveyed
test by telling some– Figure out what is
body, “ We’re good
behind it ?
taken into account
friends, aren’t we ? ” as
– Guess what is being
you raise your fist, to
said “ between the lines ”?
see if he reacts to your words or to
your gesture !
– Reject it ? etc..
The credibility of those who proBased on these considerations, we
mote change and their ability to
would define communication as being
inspire trust are other important fac“ any expressive behaviour perceived
tors in relation to the effectiveness of
by the interlocutors ” (Mucchielli,
communication. Larkin and Larkin
ISO Management Systems – May-June 2003
51
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Face-to-face
communication has
a number of aspects
that are missing in
electronic media
52
! They organize their objectives so as
(1996) quote two, not very encouragto find common ground with their
ing studies on this topic. One indicates
interlocutors, or work with them to
that 43 % of employees believe that
achieve such a common framework.
management cheats and lies (National
Productivity Review, 1989) and the
! They use lively language and proother informs us that 64 % of employvide tangible evidence.
ees believe that management lies often
! They adjust their emotional tone to
(Council of Communication Managethat of their interlocutors.
ment, 1994). This data
clearly demonstrates
Jay Conger emphathat the prime chalThe prime challenge is sizes that it is not a marlenge is not about
keting operation aimed
not about information, at selling ideas, but a
information, but indeed
about relationships.
challenge in terms of
but indeed about
sharing ideas, of seeking
relationships
convergence.
One basic principle,
therefore,
would
be to maintain the
Opportunities for exchange
most direct line of dialogue with those
When you ask people
affected by the intended change.
what it is the main feature of
Research indicates that significantcommunication, they often
ly more effectiveness when top manevoke
the
need
for
agers themselves becomes involved in
exchange. From a number of
promoting the change. The account
interviews we conducted
given by Greg Brenneman (1998) of
within an organization
how he saved Continental Airline
which had succeeded in
from bankruptcy in 1994 is quite
implementing major change
enlightening in this respect. He
with few communication
describes a number of situations
problems, it came out that
where, by becoming directly involved,
the aspects which had conhe was able to motivate people and
tributed most to the effecobtain changes that at first sight had
tiveness of communication
seemed impossible.
were not linked to the information
In 1998, the result of a study conconveyed, but instead to the relationducted by ProSci among about 100
ship fostered by management.
companies showed that the absence of
One lady concluded the interview
visible involvement of top manageby stating that she would have liked
ment was a significant failure factor.
the exchanges and spirit of “ togetherFrom another study made in 2003 by
ness ” to have been even stronger, and
the same firm among 288 organizations
that this was where there was a real
in 51 countries, we learn that the most
need. She was underlining a fundaeffective sources for communicating
mental principle : exchanges enable
change are top management and the
the participants to arrive at a shared
immediate supervisor. This apparent
understanding of the problems and the
dichotomy is explained by the fact that
solutions – a necessary precondition
it is the immediate supervisor who has
to being receptive to change.
the greatest control over the everyday
In a research paper on leaders
activities of his or her staff, while top
acknowledged for their persuasivemanagement has the greatest control
ness, Jay Conger (1998) came to simiover the company’s policy.
lar conclusions, identifying four pracOur own observations point in the
tices common to such leaders :
same direction: a visible commitment
! Before trying to influence the tarby top management plays a very imporgeted audience, they first establish
tant symbolic role in communication. In
the eyes of staff, the active presence of
their credibility.
ISO Management Systems – May-June 2003
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Communication media
top management means that “ this
change must be really important ”.
Absence or even discretion are interpreted as a lack of interest and that is
the message that sticks. Active involvement of the immediate supervisor is just
as important in reinforcing the momentum for change in actual practice.
The usual reaction of top managemers is to say that they are too busy to
become so involved. It may be true for
some of them, but that solves nothing !
Endeavouring to have frequent – even
brief – contacts may be a less demanding alternative, while still producing
good results.
Studies on the effectiveness of
communication media in the context
of change (Smeltzer and Zener, 1992)
have shown that it is primarily the confidence in management and the “ richness ” of the means utilized that have
the greatest impact. Considered in
terms of “ richness ”, communication
media can be subdivided into two
groups : the “ poor ”, which do not
allow mutual adjustment, and the
“ rich ”, which provide opportunities
for direct interaction (see Table 1).
Table 1: Communication media
and their influence
Rich communication media
Poor communication media
Face-to-face meetings
Company’s internal magazine
Newsletter, information bulletin
Small group discussions
Intranet
Internal memos
Large group discussions
Leaflets, brochures, posters
Mass electronic mailing
Presentations to small and large groups
Procedures manuals
Training sessions
Working groups
Video and audio cassettes
53
ISO Management Systems – May-June 2003
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Table 2 :
Desirable
communication
behaviour
in change
context
54
ISO Management Systems – May-June 2003
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According to the authors, these
The greater the extent of the
properties enable speakers and listenchange involved, the more those
ers to tend towards the same underattected require rich communication.
standing of the issues at stake and
Paper-based information is the poorto adjust their efforts
est form, because it is
to seek agreement.
impersonal, and faceElectronic or paperto-face exchanges are
Mass communication
based communication
the richest (Covin,
is more limited in that
1993). Once again, we
media remain
respect: not only does
come back to the notion
precious tools.
it introduce a time lag
of direct and real-time
dialogue.
It is simply that they are before any reaction,
but above all, it
The use of mass
communication media insufficient for ensuring removes all possibility
is rather attractive successful communication of adjustment to the
implicit aspects of the
because they make it
relationship.
possible to reach a large
However, there should be no misaudience quickly and at a relatively
understanding : mass communication
low cost. If the aim is to provide peomedia remain precious tools. It is
ple with factual information or purely
simply that they are insufficient for
operational data, then this is an inexensuring successful communication.
pensive approach. However, if the
In a context of change, they usually
intent is to influence people, the
have a limited impact if they are not
approach is somewhat ineffective.
accompanied by other, richer mechaThe speed and the user-friendliness
nisms that enable dialogue. This makes
of information technology is also parthings far more complicated for manticularly attractive. To date, however,
agement – but that is real life !
experience is far from conclusive in situations of change – quite the contrary.
For example, a recent study (Friedman
Euram’s experience, revisited
and Curral, 2002) shows that in a conflict situation, e-mail can make misunIn the light of the above, what are
derstandings even worse, sometimes to
the major shortcomings in the
the extent of causing irreparable damapproach followed at Euram ?
age to the relations between correEssentially, the communication plan
spondents. There are some useful lesprovided to Barbara :
sons to be drawn from that study, even
– was based on “ poor ” media (paper
though it did not specifically refer to
and electronic) ;
contexts of change. The authors explain
– was mainly concerned with the
that face-to-face communication has a
information to be circulated ;
number of aspects that are missing
from electronic media :
– did not encourage contacts and
– co-presence, which enables each
meetings with management ;
party to decode the non-verbal lan– did not provide a forum where peoguage of the other ;
ple could have developed a shared
– perceptibility, which allows the
understanding of the problem and
players also to perceive intonation ;
the solution ;
– concurrence and sequentiality,
– management was scarcely visible.
which allow the interlocutors to
receive immediate feedback ;
In a nutshell, the approach was
– simultaneity, which means that
largely based on technical media,
each player is constantly issuing
when the situation would have
and receiving a whole range of
required direct and more frequent
messages.
exchanges.
All our behaviours
contribute to
communication
and that people
give more credit to
our actions than to
our words
ISO Management Systems – May-June 2003
55
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Table 2 sets out in the form of a
guide a number of suggestions which
could have been applied to obtain better results. This guide can also be used
to self-assess your own communication
practices in a change context.
It should be borne in mind that
communication is the main vector of
change and that the approach will
have to be adjusted at each stage.
Thus:
!
At the awakening stage, one should
endeavour to provide clear and
reliable information that demonstrates the actual situation to be
different from existing conceptions.
!
At the disintegration stage, one
should create opportunities for
exchanging views on existing
approaches and practices and for
calling them into question.
!
At the reconstruction stage, one
should provide a framework and
rules that make it possible to experiment and discuss new ways of
doing things.
!
At the ritualization stage, opportunities for exchange should be provided for assessing the results and
agreeing on adjustments.
The change context
The following elements will constitute important assets for introducing
and maintaining effective communication in a context of change :
!
Close
contacts
(face-to-face
exchanges between management
and those affected by change).
!
Frequent meetings (short, rather
than long).
!
Clear and truthful messages
(express things as they are, in a
straightforward manner).
!
Congruence between management’s messages and behaviour (do
what you say you do).
About the authors
Robert
Schneider
Pierre
Collerette
is an expert in
computer science and public administration. He has
gained more
than 20 years
of experience
in management functions in the
information technology and general
administration fields. He is more particularly interested in the integration
of technologies in company business
processes and is pursuing research in
that field.
is a professor
and researcher in management at the
University of
Québec in Outaouais (Canada). He has published several works in
the fields of organizational change
and management structures. In addition to his academic activities, he has
held several management functions
and has acted as a consultant in
numerous projects in Canada and
Europe.
manages his
own consultancy firm, the
Centre de recherche et d’intervention en
gestion (CRIG).
He has been active for more than 25
years as a management consultant
on planning, change and strategic
organization. He has also taught in
connection with several university
programmes and has published several works and articles on organizations.
Department of Administration Sciences,
University of Québec in Outaouais,
Gatineau (Québec), Canada J8X 3X7.
Centre de recherche et d’intervention
en gestion (CRIG).
University of Québec in Outaouais,
Bureau du recteur, Gatineau (Québec),
Canada J8X 3X7.
E-mail
E-mail
E-mail
56
Paul Legris
pierre.collerette@uqo.ca
ISO Management Systems – May-June 2003
crig.schneider@sympatico.ca
paul.legris@uqo.ca
I N TE RN ATI O NAL
Bibliography
BPR Online Learning Center (2002). The five biggest mistakes top
management can make during a major change. ProSci, Internet :
www.prosci.com.
BPR Online Learning Center (2003). Communications – what
worked and what didn’t, ProSci, Internet : www.prosci.com.
Brenneman, Greg (1998). “ Right Away and All at Once : How We
Saved Continental ”. Harvard Business Review, September-October,
pp. 162-179.
Collerette, Pierre ; Schneider, Robert (1996). Le pilotage du
changement. Québec, Presses de l’Université du Québec.
Restricting
the communication
challenge
to information alone
is an
over-simplification
It goes without saying that communication needs are even stronger in situations where people believe that the
change will bring them nothing positive, or is even detrimental to them. It
is in such circumstances that distortion
is at its strongest and that dialogue is
most necessary.
Conclusion
Let us keep in mind that communicating means exchanging views with
those concerned. Restricting the communication challenge to information
alone is an over-simplification. The
principal challenge consists of building
and maintaining trust and sustained
dialogue. One of the keys to achieving
this is to say what you do and do what
what you say.
Things would of course be far easier if content were the last word ; but
the truth of the matter is that all our
behaviours contribute to communication and that people give more credit
to our actions than to our words. In
1967 already, the communication
expert Marshall McLuhan asserted
that “ the medium is the message ”.
Collerette, Pierre (1998). “ Gestion du changement ; communication et paradoxes ”, in Gestion des paradoxes dans les organisations – Vol. 1 (Changement organisationnel). Actes du neuvième
Congrès International de Psychologie du Travail et des
Organisations ; sous la direction de Alain Rondeau. Presses Inter
Universitaires, Cap-Rouge (Québec).
Conger, Jay (1998). “ The Necessary Art of Persuasion ”. Harvard
Business Review, May-June, p.84-95.
Covin, T.J. (1993). “ Managing Workforce Reduction : A Survey of
Employee Reactions and Implications for Management
Consultants ”. Organization Development Journal, Vol. 11, #1,
Spring, p. 67-76.
Daft, Richard L.; Bettenhausen, Kenneth R., and Beverly B. Tyler
(1993). “ Implications of Top Managers’ Communication Choices for
Strategic Decisions ”. In Organizational Change and Redesign;
Ideas and Insights for Improving Performance. Edited by George P.
Huber and William H. Glick. New York, Oxford University Press.
Friedman, Raymond A.; Currall, Steven C. (2002). “ E-Mail
Escalation : Dispute Exacerbating Elements of Electronic
Communication ”. IACM 15th Annual Conference, Paper on Internet.
Johnson, Lauren Keller (2002). “ Does E-Mail Escalate Conflict ? ”,
MIT Sloan Management Review, Fall.
Larkin, T.J.; Larkin, S. (1996). “ Reaching and Changing Frontline
Employees ”. Harvard Business Review, May-June, p. 95-104.
Mucchielli, A. (1995). Psychologie de la communication. P.U.F.,
Collection Le psychologue.
Smeltzer, L.R.; Zener, Marie F. (1992). “ Development of a Model
for Announcing Major Layoffs ”. Group & Organization
Management, Vol. 17, #4, Dec., p. 446-472.
Watzlawick, P.; Beavin, J.H.; Weakland, J.H. (1972). Une logique de
la communication. Paris, Seuil.
ISO Management Systems – May-June 2003
57
Next
ISO Insider
issue
How do you know the quality of your
products really measures up ?
In realizing a product, accurate measurement not
only affects its overall quality, but can also impact
on its reliability and safety. ISO 10012 complements the ISO 9000:2000 series by specifying the
requirements of a veritable “ measurement management system ”.
Medical laboratories get Vitamin ‘ Q ’ for
Quality
ISO 15189 is just what the doctor ordered for
medical laboratories : tailor-made requirements
for implementing ISO 9001:2000-based quality
management systems to improve efficiency, meet
regulatory requirements and improve their service to patients.
Special Report Information and communication technologies and
management system implementation
Whatever happened to quality management software ?
A review of the latest methods of using software to manage
through quality principles
Idea management systems : key tools for customer
satisfaction and involving employees
An Internet-based idea management system can cost-effectively provide the documentation and lead to the behavioral
changes organizations need to prove they are continuously
improving their products and services to meet the quality
expectations of their clients.
International
‘ Operation Aquitaine’ puts integrated
management systems through their paces
Feedback and good practice on an integrated approach to
quality, environment and safety are gleaned from a cooperative project in Aquitaine, France involving local industry,
with the support of central and regional government, the
European Union and the French national standards institute, AFNOR.
Business
Standards
58
IT security – securing your business
advantage
Information is an asset, which, like other
important business assets, adds value to an
organization and consequently needs to be
protected.
ISO Management Systems – May-June 2003
A warm smile is a good start.
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ISO Management Systems – May-June 2003
59