21.2 Closing Invitation to the Case Studies

This completes our ISO 9001:2000 QMS Documentation Design and Implementation design rules. We believe that the use of the proposed rules will result in a more user-friendly, effective, and affective QMS.

We have approached the subject of QMS design as a scientific exercise—although there is a very significant subjective aspect to the paradigm. In this sense, we are reminded of the words of Thomas S. Kuhn ^[1]: "Probably the single most prevalent claim advanced by the proponents of a new paradigm is that they can solve the problems that have led the old one to a crisis. When it can legitimately be made, this claim is often the most effective one possible."

We trust that we have presented a legitimate discourse. In fact, it is now time to apply the ISO 9001:2000 QMS design rules to the ambitious and fast growing Growth Corporation, now a wholly owned subsidiary of the Stable Corporation, which has decided to upgrade from ISO 9001:1994 to ISO 9001:2000 using the 2000 format. The Growth Corporation was certified to ISO 9001:1994 3 years ago, and the time has come for its recertification. The timing is such that they might as well upgrade to ISO 9001:2000 as part of the final surveillance on their present contract and save money on one certificate change instead of waiting until 2003 to upgrade. Let's see how they manage their upgrade mechanics based on the cut-and-paste and fill-in technique ^[2].

In addition, let's also see how Growth helped a fellow company create a QMS:2000 on its first certification experience based on the Growth Corporation's previous two certification experiences.

Please join us now in the case studies. Hope you enjoy the presentations as much as I did their creation. Besides, you might find someone who sounds like you!

^[1]Kuhn, Thomas S., The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, Foundations of the Unity of Science, Vol. II, No. 2, University of Chicago, 1970, p. 153. The continued interest in Kuhn's paradigm shift theory has been enhanced with the addition of the following publications as noted by Wilson, Kennith G., Physics Today, March 2001, p. 53: Kuhn, Thomas S., The Road Since Structure: Philosophical Essays, 1970–1993, with an autobiographical interview edited by James Conant and John Haugeland, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000; and Fuller, Steve, and Thomas Kuhn, A Philosophical History of Our Times, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000.

^[2]The certification of the Growth Corporation to ISO 9001:1994 was detailed in: Schlickman, Jay J., ISO 9000 Quality Management System Design, Optimal Design Rules for Documentation, Implementation, and System Effectiveness, Milwaukee, WI: ASQ Press, 1998.