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Quality systems have their place but are they worthy?
There is no doubt that were it not for robust quality systems management NASA would never have put men on the moon. ISO9000 is a brilliant concept, these things have their place but are they in danger of being taken out of context by inexperienced managers?
I ask this because more and more I find myself being sent suppliers questionaires that ask what (if any) quality systems I am using, along with H&S policies and environmental policies (actually, as a very small business I have non of these – neither do I have the time to implement them with any real integrity).
The problem is my signs aren’t used in the manufacture of any products produced by my customers. Consequently, the goods and services I provide do not impact on the quality of any products they make. Yet If I don’t have these things in place I am barred from being a supplier since their "Quality Systems" require that they only deal with similarly minded suppliers.
Anyone else experiencing this type of discrimination and how do you get around it?
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9 Replies
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There is no doubt that were it not for robust quality systems management NASA would never have put men on the moon.
How many failures did NASA have tho? Also some very costly mistakes 😉
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Phil, I would want to know how that works, as many of my Clients have all these procedures in place, but when they buy from me, I don’t have all these in place either. I do however manufacture to the spec handed to me & we don’t change anything. I understand why they would want this for construction….not really on signs, unless someone has more of an idea why it is needed
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They never went to the moon. Therefore the quality systems are pointless.
But yes we’ve been asked for the same sort of questions, but to fit some stickers to a wall… I had to produce a brexit mitigation plan for a customer, who we print a couple of A1 posters for.
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quote Vince Francis:There is no doubt that were it not for robust quality systems management NASA would never have put men on the moon.How many failures did NASA have tho? Also some very costly mistakes 😉
It’s only because of their meticulous record keeping that they were able to identify problems retrospectively. This includes instances of catastrophic failures that otherwise would have remained unexplained.
And to answer your second question, I think it’s over zealous managers that are trying to implement QS but can’t see the wood for the trees so inadvertently limit their choice of suppliers thinking they are ensuring consistent quality when in fact certain services that are supplied have no impact on the quality of their products. I find this frustrating and apart from implementing my own systems to satisfy their (ill informed) requirements I can’t see how to make them see sense. Asking them if they need this type of questionaire filled in by the local shop where they buy the milk for the canteen comes across as cheeky – yet is exactly the type of thing that needs to be pointed out to these jobsworths :rollseyes:
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David…. a brexit mitigation plan for a customer! Wow that’s a new one….do they even exist?
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I recall in the lead up to the year 2000 getting a letter from a customer with a form to fill in describing what actions were being taken to limit the effects of the millennium bug and to ensure continuity of supply. Needless to say that one went in the bin also.
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Our customer was adamant we needed to complete it.
There was an online questionnaire that required us to upload a copy of our plan.
I explained we’re a small company, and what we supply isn’t very likely to cripple their multinational company, but they were having non of it.
So I filled in their questionnaire, and uploaded something similar to the attached as out mitigation plan. :tongue:
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I have never understood the need to bureaucratise good sense and good practice.
What happened to reputation and pride in your work? -
Its more geared towards a blame chain, if they tick all the boxes & make sure you do as well, it comes right back down the line from the problem, through them & back to your doorstep. If we don’t have these systems in place, we are where the blame stays. A real shame its gone this way but somebody has to shoulder the responsibility i guess.
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