ISO 9001 Vs Six Sigma

I won't get into the history and background of each process management approach. You only have to Google "Six Sigma" or "ISO 9001" to get your fair share of information. This article will go for the jugular on a topic that has been on my mind for some time. I am not trained in Six Sigma but I have always respected the program from afar and I have researched enough on this topic to give a fairly educated opinion. I can appreciate its call to action and I understand there is a strong group of supporters but I honestly feel like Six Sigma is yesterday's fad. It has been touted in best-selling business books but that was 10 years ago.

Before I get off-topic, let's jump straight into a bullet list that lists the problems with Six Sigma:

1. 3M, GE, Home Depot, Ford and other major companies are pulling back on Six Sigma because research shows that customer satisfaction and employee morale has suffered

a. On the other hand, customer Satisfaction is a major theme of ISO 9001 as Customer Focus is one of the eight ISO 9001 management principles.

2. Over analyzing

a. On the other hand, ISO 9001 simply suggests that your business should take a Factual Approach to Decision Making. This means making informed decisions and ensuring data and information are sufficiently accurate and reliable and accessible to those who need it. ISO 9001 wants you to use the facts but to also balance it with experience and intuition.

3. Six Sigma and innovation do not co-exist in the same world

a. Another major theme of ISO 9001 is Continual Improvement. Unlike Six Sigma, ISO 9001 puts innovation squarely on the roadmap for organizational success.

4. It's all about numbers and not about customers

a. Again, ISO 9001 makes it abundantly clear throughout the standard that Customer Focus is a key element to business success.

5. Six Sigma = cost cutting. Surely, your business exists do to more than just cut costs?

a. ISO 9001 reminds us that in addition to cutting costs, we also have to focus on Mutually Beneficial Supplier Relationships, Leadership, Involvement of People and more.

6. Six Sigma = micromanaging

a. ISO 9001 is anything but micromanaging if it is well-implemented by an experienced consultant. The standard only required six documented procedures. A smooth-running ISO 9001 certified company is one that operates on its own positive, organic momentum.

7. It is elitist. Since when should a company only take direction from Black Belts? Whatever happened to everyone in a company acting as a process improver?

a. Not the case with ISO 9001. Only one central role of Management Representative needs to be assigned. As for the rest of the employees, everyone is encouraged to play their part.

8. It does not incorporate information technology - a huge force that can impact processes

a. There isn't anything specifically written into ISO 9001 speaking to Information Technology. However, several sections of the standard allow ample opportunity for IT to shine and play a central role.

9. It espouses incremental improvement, not radical breakthroughs

a. One of my personal favorite Management Principles of ISO 9001 is Continual Improvement.

10. Read any article about Six Sigma and you are bound to find a disclaimer section addressing concerns or issues with it.

a. ISO 9001 does not generate the same kind of backlash Six Sigma is getting

11. A Fortune 500 article stated that "of 58 large companies that have announced Six Sigma programs, 91% have trailed the S&P 500 since"

a. On the other hand, a Harvard Business School Working Paper by David I. Levine and Michael W. Toffel published on January 18, 2010 concludes that ISO 9001 delivers value, is not a fad, increases sales by roughly 10%, and more. The authors mention "...the strength and consistency of our findings leads us to shift our own priors in favor of the hypothesis that ISO 9001 adoption is more beneficial than we had anticipated."

12. It is based on arbitrary standards

a. 3.4 defects per million opportunities sounds great for some industries assuming their products are life-threatening or simply cannot endure any margin of error. But would you apply the same strict standard to your typical contact centre or service provider? Why does it need to be six standard deviations? This is not explained. Also, Six Sigma operates on the assumption that process data always conforms to a normal distribution model.

Hopefully this helps shed more light on the controversial subject of comparing Six Sigma to ISO 9001.


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Your Guide to Auditor Training and OHSAS 18001 Certification

The practice of auditing provides objective assurance to an organization about its state of affairs. Auditing can help organizations attain their goals and objectives with systematic, accurate evaluation. Internal auditors are always a part of the organization that is being evaluated. It is important that the auditors understand the various aspects of their job well. Incidentally, internal auditor training can be very beneficial.

Internal auditor course is highly knowledgeable and interactive. It provides both practical skills and technical knowledge required to become a competent lead auditor. The course content covers introductions and objectives, ISO 9001:2008- outline philosophy and principles, impact on established management systems and certification, ISO 9001:2008- impact of the update on auditors and interpretation of the update. The purpose of the training is to ensure that both Quality managers and auditors are aware of the changes to ISO 9001:2008 and understand the kind of impact they will have on the quality management system. They will also learn to interpret changes when undertaking audits. The lead auditor course is highly recommended.

Internal auditing is a lucrative career option. Internal auditors are in great demand everywhere. An auditor's job requires practical and technical expertise. They need to determine the efficiency, accuracy and effectiveness of the systems in place for internal control. They are also required to review the integrity and reliability of the management and ensure compliance with laws, policies and procedures. They help protect the assets of the business. They need to be in complete control of a company's computer system to ensure the reliability and integrity of the data. Internal auditor training can help you gain in-depth knowledge about the same. It can help you understand the intricacies of your job.

Thanks to the advent of the Internet, a wide range of courses can be learned online. Other than internal auditor and lead auditor course, there are other courses like occupational health and safety courses that are popular. More and more people are educating themselves on OHSAS 18001 certification. This kind of certification is a must for companies having a large work force, operating in a high risk environment. Companies proactively protecting the health and safety of their stakeholders and employees are certificated under OHSAS 18001. There are many advantages of this kind of certification. It reduces accidents. It ensures better control over hazards at workplace. It focuses on safety of employees and improves a company's image. It promotes international competitiveness.

ISO 14001 also deserves a mention. You can download the course details online. It is mainly concerned with environmental management. It basically refers to what an organization can do to reduce harmful effects on the environment. A company gains a lot from being ISO 14001 certified. It gives a company a 'green' policy. It helps a company show responsibility towards the environment. ISO 14001 is a process based standard. The focus is on establishing internal policies, targets, objectives and procedures.


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What If ISO 9001 is No Longer Providing Value?

This is a loaded question when you consider that I am in the business of selling ISO 9001 consulting services. So why would I even broach this topic and shoot myself in the foot? My main objective is to inform you of ISO 9001 in plain English and in an unbiased manner. That's the whole point of this blog (soon to be a website...assuming the web developers ever get around to finishing the job...but that's another story). If I am fortunate enough to earn someone's business as a result of what I am conveying on this site, wonderful. Obviously I want to make a living based on my expertise and interpretation of ISO 9001. Let's analyze this loaded question in more detail.

The topic came to my attention today in speaking to someone who works for a very large, global pharmaceutical company. Essentially, this company no longer saw value in maintaining ISO 9001 certification so they dropped it. The company operates in a very heavily regulated industry. They have audits for regulation A one day, audits for regulation B the next and audits for regulation C the next day after that. Senior management felt ISO 9001 audits were getting in the way and actually became counter-productive. They felt confident in maintaining compliance to other industry regulations and I can understand why. [NOTE: I can tell you that ISO 9001 clearly served a purpose for several years and greatly benefitted the company. Unless an organization has poorly implemented ISO 9001, I can guarantee you they will always come out ahead. And remember, if you have a poorly implemented ISO 9001 quality management system, you are not going to pass your annual audit by the 3rd party registrar].

When I think further on this conversation, I have to wonder if senior management might have mismanaged ISO 9001. Did their ISO consultant drop the ball and/or was the Management Representative asleep at the wheel? What of the fact that this company operated in a highly regulated environment? Who is to say that regulation A, B or C aren't outdated, unnecessary, redundant, poorly designed and ISO 9001 took the bullet?

I also wonder about who is measuring and defining "value"? In the opinion of this company, was the value derived from ISO 9001 a quantitative measure or a gut feel? Personally, I believe it is a best practice and the obligation of any company to quantitatively measure their key performance indicators using balanced scorecards in order to illustrate if the company improved from implementing ISO 9001. But the reality is a brain freeze or lack of understanding or misunderstanding on behalf of senior management is enough to kill ISO 9001 sponsorship and certification (as well as any other voluntary initiative for that matter).

It is important to remember that ISO 9001:2008 registration is optional and you need to pay for the annual audits conducted by the 3rd party registrar. However, there is no cost for being compliant to ISO 9001. That is, you can act or operate your business in a manner that is demonstrative of what ISO 9001:2008 preaches but whether or not you choose to pass the litmus test and get audited so that you can get the certificate and proverbial stamp of approval is up to you. I would not force any of my clients to become ISO 9001:2008 registered. The choice is theirs.


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