Does ISO = quality?

In U.S. business circles, the term ISO 9000 is a buzzword that has taken on different connotations. For some, the quality standards certificate program means easier access to foreign markets, especially in Europe. To others it is a European protectionist trade barrier, and still others say it is costly and has created an army of bureaucrats known as Registrars.

Conventional wisdom has been that companies wanting to do business overseas had to apply for, and receive, certification by registrars approved by the Geneva, Switzerland-based International Organizations for Standardization (ISO).

A number of countries, 73 countries by one count, are requiring businesses exporting their wares to these countries to obtain certification by ISO Registrars.

Because of this, many secondary wood products manufacturers have become ISO certified including Haworth, Steelcase, Herman Miller and Knoll.

Begun in 1987, ISO is a series of certificates ranging from ISO 9001 to 9005. The certification requires that companies thoroughly examine the links in the chain of procedures it goes through to bring a product to market -- from design to after-sales service -- and document these procedures.

Certification and quality products

What ISO certification does not do, at least according to one expert, is requir that a company make quality products and provide quality service. Obtaining certification only requires a company to completely document its procedures.

Amy Zuckerman, with the import/export consulting firm of IN/EX in Pelham, Mass. said the global one-standard-fits-all-industries certificates are "vaguely written" which has bred an army of "almost entirely unregulated" consultants. "Companies are becoming prey to registrars," Zuckerman said.

Zuckerman, author of ISO 9000 Made Easy: Cost Saving Guide to Registration, sai the European Union, while not abandoning ISO, is looking to integrate the idea of quality over the idea of processes being certified. She said a recent survey of European companies reported that 27 percent of small companies would elect not to participate in ISO accept they feel coerced to do so by market pressures

Russell Coyner, of the Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturers Assn. said "I think that could be a danger of people looking only at documentation an procedures. If a company is not making a quality product and thinking only of the documentation than they can institutionalize bad procedures. Companies must realize that ISO is not a magic answer to quality but just another tool."

However, he added, "Because it is a world standard, many customers are putting it into their specifications."

Zuckerman said that while the program is supposed to be voluntary, many companies are being "coerced" into being certified. These companies fear the loss of business to companies using ISO as a marketing tool and also the loss o contracts with companies that require their vendors to be ISO certified.

However, Tom Melcher, an ISO Registrar with Quality Resource Group Inc., Grand Rapids, Mich., a firm that specializes in helping furniture manufacturers meet ISO, said that it is a "step up" in assuring that quality is maintained.

"The historical methods of simply inspecting (product or service) quality are n longer adequate," Melcher said. "There has to be preventive-based quality management systems put in place."

ISO in the workplace

One company that says it has benefitted from the ISO process is furniture manufacturer. The Knoll Group which has received ISO certification for all seve of its facilities around the world.

"This proved to be a Godsend for us," said Decarto Draper, a Quality Assurance Manager for Knoll. Draper headed the in-house team that prepared the company fo ISO certification. "By combining our different businesses under ISO, it has, in my opinion, accelerated our ability to make this company one; to gel."

Draper said by analyzing each of the company's facilities, inconsistencies between them were discovered and corrected.

What is ISO 9000?

Standard      Description                     Relevant Industries

ISO 9000      Guidelines for selection        All industries including
              and use                         software development

ISO 9001      Quality assurance in            Engineering, construction
              design/development              manufacturers that design,
              production, installation        develop, produce, install and
              and servicing                   service products

ISO 9002      Quality assurance in            Many process industries and
              production and installation     companies not involved in
                                              product design

ISO 9003      Quality assurance in            Small shops, divisions within
              final inspection and test       an organization or equipment
                                              distributors that inspect and
                                              test supplied products

ISO 9004      Quality inspection and          All industries, including
              quality system elements         service companies

Source: Grant Thornton Survey of American Manufacturers Annual Report/ISO 9000

"A lot of our procedures were passed down from person to person," Draper said. "If a person is out and another has to step in, does he know what to do? With ISO, all procedures are written down. Before this we didn't have in place the processes needed to comply with ISO."

Knoll is not alone in this respect. Many furniture makers would not currently meet ISO accreditation, Melcher said.

Cost is a determining factor

ISO is meant to be used by companies of all sizes, but many smaller companies may find it difficult to incur the cost, both in terms of dollars and manpower needed to document every process.

Depending on the source, the cost of obtaining ISO certification varies. Zuckerman, for example, said that an average small company is going to spend $250,000. But Melcher said he has not seen a contract in the woodworking industry for more than $25,000.

Pre-planning is a good way to save. Documenting as much as possible prior to hiring a Registrar can realize savings.

Knoll, which began the ISO process in January of 1993, sent Draper and three others to be trained as ISO assessors.

Draper's team developed an implementation plan by assessing each facility and procedure and then began the standardization process. On Feb. 11, 1994, all Knoll facilities was awarded certification.

An unexpected side effect at Knoll was the workers reaction to ISO. "They felt they had more of a part in the business and that they were helping the business be more successful."