Advancing the standard.

Working hard to put together its QS-9000 system, an engineering department made unexpected gains.

Achieving QS-9000 registration is a must for all tier 1 automotive suppliers, and it takes hard work to make the grade. Since the end of 1997, the Big Three North American automobile manufacturers

Manufacturers outside the automotive industry are often encouraged by their customers to seek ISO 9000 registration, the primary standard upon which QS-9000 is based. Complying with these standards has become an important part of manufacturing management in general, as it has in the automotive industry.

Most manufacturing engineers would agree that the registration process is good for the factory floor and the end product. But what does it do for the engineering department that supports the factory? How do engineers see the effects of the changes necessary for QS-9000 registration? And what do they believe the process costs them in terms of work and results?

What's more, how closely do the engineers' opinions reflect objective measures of performance?

TRW's Rack & Pinion Division, a tier I automotive supplier, spent a lot of time and human energy preparing its engineering department as part of the company's efforts to be certified under QS-9000. Its experience involved stress and rewards, and showed what a company can encounter when it pursues QS-9000 or any registration that requires a major change in procedures.

The QS-9000 standard is a quality system developed by the U.S. automotive industry. It is based largely on the requirements defined in ISO 9001, section 4, of the international standards series, and it also contains a combination of requirements derived from the quality systems of the automotive equipment manufacturers, primarily Ford Motor Co., DaimlerChrysler, and General Motors Corp.

SIGNIFICANT EFFORT REQUIRED

For most companies, the effort to earn registration is significant. To operate under a QS-9000 or ISO 9000 quality system, a company must standardize its practices, spell them out for employees and customers, and then be able to provide documentary evidence that the organization has followed its own procedures.