XL inc. -"A Builder of Quality in Business"
Title: ISO 9000 - It is Not Just for Manufacturing
Published in the Greenville Chamber of Commerce
By many, ISO 9000:1994 has long been considered a quality standard for the manufacturing industry. Even though some "ISO Gurus" have promoted the concept that ISO 9000 is a "one size fits all" standard, in reality, many have foundthat applying ISO 9000:1994 to the service sector (e.g. temporary staffing, interior design, financial planning, insurance brokerages) was at the very least, extremely difficult. For example, how do the elements 4.4, Design Control or element 4.11, Inspection, Measuring, and Test Equipment apply to a company whose focus is on temporary staffing?
For a service focused organization, even if a company felt that the principals of ISO 9000 would be value added, trying to decide and apply which of the 20 elements were applicable to the business created an atomosphere of frustration and confusion.
That is until now. ISO 9000 is about to change. With the release of ISO 9000:2000 later this year, a company working in the service sector will find it easier to understand the requirements of ISO 9000 and intern the benefits that can be obtained with a well implemented quality management system. This is exciting!
Though the ultimate content of each is similar, ISO 9000:2000 has a complete change of presentation and focus as compared to ISO 9000:1994. Specifically, the 2000 version has a "process" focus consistent with the "Plan-Do-Check-Act" improvement cycle. This is a major departure from the current 20-element structure used in the 1994 version. When the 2000 releaseis compared to the 1994 revision, the new process based structure is more generic and adopts the process management approach widely used in business today - regardless of the business, whether manufacturing or service.
In looking at the proposed new revision, one of the first things one will notice about the ISO 9000:2000 standard is its new clause structure. The sections are no longer listed as element 4.1 to 4.20 as in the 1994 version. A more specific comparison is as follows:
Table 1: ISO 9000-2000 vs. the 1994 Revision
As on might note in the above table, ISO 9000:2000 lends itself to a more common sense approach to a quality management/business system - a way of doing business. What does the company do to "Plan" for business, how does the company "Do" the planning, what are the "Checks" to insure the planning is done correctly, and what is the "Action" taken to improve or correct the plan. Clean and Simple - PDCA, Plan-Do-Check-Act, over, and over, and over again.
In the 1994 revision, the structure of the standard was organized from a "fuctional" pont of view making it more challengingfor a service related organization to relate to and apply. Whether applicable or not to a service organization, every element had to be addressed in order to be compliant to the standard.
With ISO 9000:2000, the organization is given more flexibility. An organization must address the 4 clauses, but not necessarily the 20 elements. Only if the element is applicable, it is applied. The new standard allows for easierunderstnading and appllication to all business. As a result of the "process" orientation, more value added is place on an organization's:

- Continual Improvement Activitly
- Customer Relations (customer satisfaction) and
- Resources Management

In addition, the new revision does not specify requirements on the layout or structure of the quality management system or rules on the presentation of a quality manual.
In summary, ISO 9000:2000 is a more clean cut method for a non-manufacturing organization to understnad and implement the requirements as definedby the internationally established standard. By focusing on the process, an organization that adopts "process/sytems" thinking can effectively adapt to changing market and competitive conditions, share best practices across the entire organization and implement continous improvement efforts.
Operating out of Greenville, SC, Jon H. Melkonian is president of XL inc.- a ISO/QS 9000 and AS 9100 quality business consulting firm.