"We are a legal practice and we have a legal aid franchise which is in many respect similar to a quality mark. We have found that it has improved our efficiency slightly. It has also improved the image and profile of the firm. However it is our view that most quality standards only measure procedural matters rather than the actual quality of the firm's product. It can also increase costs. For example solicitors usually charge on a time costing basis and per letter/telephone call. Most quality standards result in increased paperwork/correspondence which the solicitor will then charge for on his time costing basis. This can be up to £20 per letter or more for large firms. We have noticed that so far as solicitors are concerned, often the firms with a number of 'quality marks' such as ISO 9000 and Investors in People, are in fact the most commercial and cost driven firms, which is in many respects contrary to the ethos of the profession."
"Quality depends as you have to cut from other areas so losing value."
"We have a quality system that would probably pass ISO 9000, but it is not worth the time, money & effort in registering"
"These systems can be a surrogate for good and attentive customer/client relations. They are also a function of size; the bigger an organisation the more necessary they are."
"I worked for 9 years for [a large organisation], during which time the IT work area, in which I worked, was ISO9000 accredited. The programmers & analysts generally felt that it was a great deal of work for very little return, but it probably enhanced the career prospects of senior management."
"I do not see that ISO 9000 has any relevance to our business at all. From those who have implemented it, it just seems to be a very expensive administrative nightmare which has no relationship to product quality, as one company director observed to me 'It just ensures that all your widgets are the same, not whether they work or not'"
"I'm sure that these systems of accreditation do appeal to certain types of customer. What concerns me is a) the time it takes to go through all this nonsense and b) assessing how qualified auditors are"
"Some of our most unreliable suppliers are ISO 9000 registered. It does not impress us at all."
"the principle is good but the drawback is that when dealing with a 9000 co. I can't tell the difference from a non 9000 co.!. Most companies treat their customers at best indifferently I am also very concerned at the cost to a small enterprise of getting registered. There should be a simplified version which could be a stepping stone to full registration"
"The pressure from clients that we saw a few years ago to have ISO9000 has abated. Most of the companies which I know in the consultancy sector that have gone this route wished they hadn't."
"Not appropriate for this site"
"Our customers demand ISO 9000 and it concentrates the mind having audits every few months"
"Not relevant to the size and nature of our business"
"In my experience ISO 9000 has largely had its day and many more people appear interested in IIP"
"ISO could be useful, but the "ISO-speak" renders it fairly useless, as normal humans don't think that way."
"ISO9001, TICKIT are our credits"
"There must be significant doubts as to whether ISO 9000 is at all relevant to small companies. In larger companies the usual approach is that they spend the money required to document to meet the ISO 9000 standards without actually addressing the real issue of quality at all, purely to enable them to feature this within their Marketing. Only few companies take the right approach, which is to actually improve their quality procedures and actually obtain ISO 9000 more or less as an afterthought."
"Parts of ISO 9000 are good, provided they are designed to help your business perform better. Often, they are not, resulting in an increase in unnecessary bureaucratic procedures. It is important to remember that ISO 9000 is not a quality standard (although it purports to be); it is more a statement of compliance. Thus one can have pretty poor standards, but as long as one complies with those, one can be accredited."
"ISO is a form of restrictive practice and precludes up and coming companies from entering the full business arena. The cost to a small business is large and thus prohibitive. Businesses are only as good as there last order/customer there they should be judged."
"It is a good idea for companies to go through the processes of ISO 9000 or other schemes such as Investors in People as it helps in the management of a company, they are not the only ways to improve a company and definitely do not guarantee high quality, only consistent quality, in themselves. Getting companies to work to the rules of professional bodies such as Chartered Institute of Marketing or the Design Business Association would do more to improve the quality of a companies output"
"It merely helped focus on processes and instigated some mindset changes"
"ISO 9000 does not guarantee a standard of service to customers, it is merely based upon the recording and compliance to a set written administrative procedures. This is clearly evident when dealing the accounts payable departments - who consider themselves to outside ISO 9000 and QA systems when it comes to paying their bills. It is our experience of this, which has led to our decision not to pursue any of these systems, as we consider them to be merely PR exercises. Finally, with exception of a organisations, not having ISO 9000 or any other QA system is not a barrier to gaining business."
"As the senior principal of the company, I am ISO 9000 trained and we do, as a company, adhere to the precepts of the ISO 9000 procedures, despite not being formally registered. I also believe it worthy of note that Professionals generally have been adopting ISO 9000 / BS 5750 standards for a good many years and will probably continue to do so for the foreseeable future."
"In my opinion such quality standards do not relate to the quality of the products manufactured, if the company is a manufacturer. they only guarantee consistency and adherence to the requirements to keep up with the paperwork that comes with the application and approval. If the products to which it applies are poor quality then all you are agreeing to do, is to maintain that poor standard. It in no way assesses the quality of the things to which it is applied, only the quality of the systems and standards that are in place to maintain that quality. If what you make is [rubbish] it ensures that you will continue to make it that way. I hope you understand what I am saying here."
"In planning for the registration process, set a budget in time and money - and then double it. We have obtained some minor benefits in terms of quality improvements - however it is increasingly becoming an essential requirement with our customers so it is just another cost of doing business."
"Having a quality system is all very well, but it does not mean that the service is a quality one, in many cases companies busy dealing with the system, that they are not able to respond to the customer, and so deliver to the customer a poor service, which in the quality system is OK, but in reality is very bad for customer relations"
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