Chapter 23: Case Study 2: Mike s Advice on ISO 9001:2000 From the Ground Floor Up

23.1 The Phone Call

Mike was quite satisfied with himself, not only because of his promotion to vice president of quality assurance—that was in the near past—but more so because he had led the activities to upgrade Growth to ISO 9001:2000 in such a way that company costs had been minimized. He pondered on whether hindsight would indicate how the original certification to ISO 9001:1994 could have been done in a less expensive manner. However, there was a lot of work to do, and he put the idea on the back burner for the present. Then, as Mike was sipping his morning decaf, black (a true macho man), the phone rang. He let it ring a few times while he got up the strength to talk, and then he answered in his usually highly professional manner, "Good morning, this is quality assurance at Growth, how may I help you?" The answer came back with a start, "Mike, it's Paul, you old smoothie, that's some phone technique. I'm impressed."

Mike and Paul had been university school chums when they majored in electrical engineering a good many years ago. Mike had gone on to earn a master's degree in industrial engineering, and Paul had gone on to earn an MBA. They hadn't seen each other in over 20 years.

"Paul, what in the world have you been up to? It's been a long, long time."

"Mike, we've got to get together some night to catch up over a couple of beers, but right now I'm in deep yogurt and maybe you can help me."

"Hey, for you old buddy, any time. But it has to be technical—no fixing you up and all that, like I used to."

"No, it's not that kind of problem. Besides you weren't all that great in the date department. Anyway, I'm happily married with three kids, and to make a long story short, I'm the president of a small design and manufacturing company called FastBoard, Incorporated. We're only 4 years old, but we have a super fast display system and some really hot customers. But they're small, so we started to bid the big OEMs. Next thing we know, we get an RFP that says you won't be considered unless you have an ISO 9001 certification. We can't believe it. We've got the best design at the lowest cost, and we're cut out. I need certification fast. Last week I read in the local newspaper about Growth's upgrade to ISO 9001:2000 and your 3 years of certification, so I'm hoping you can tell me your secret."

"Well, it always pays to have a consultant that you have a lot of confidence in, and respect, and we've been very lucky in that regard. His name is Sam, and I'll have him call you as soon as I get your phone number. He's been a great help."

"Mike, that's great. I've been searching for consultants, but I didn't really know any. What else do I need to do?"

"Paul, I'll tell you what. I've been thinking back on how we did so well in both certifications, and your phone call motivates me to put it down on paper. Perhaps it will help you, and I might submit it as a paper to our local quality group. It might be of interest to them, too. I'll put it together this weekend and get it off to you. I'm sure Sam will fill in the details when you two get together."

"Mike, I really appreciate this. The RFQ is due in 40 days, and maybe if I show them that FastBoard means business about getting certified, they'll waiver their Ts and Cs and let us bid. It's certainly worth a shot."

Mike wrote down Paul's phone number and address and called Sam. For-tunately, Sam had some consulting days open, and, after receiving Mike's suggestions, he and Paul met the following week to plan the program's details based on Mike's summary of necessary activities.