ASQ Recertification Units

Here's a question I answered about a month ago:
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You asked the ASQ about standards for granting recertification units (RUs) from in-house training. There are two main concepts here:

1. Training must cover some part of the affected certification Body of Knowledge
2. Every hour of contact time equals 0.1 RU

Body of Knowledge. The training topics must cover some part of the certification BoK. This is pretty liberally interpreted. Auditor and Manager certifications are the most general, while Software and Inspector are more specific. Each certification has a booklet, available for download off the ASQ web site, showing its BoK as an outline of topics. Make sure the training will support one or more of these topics.

Contact time. A one-day course is typically 6-7 contact hours, which would equate to 0.6-0.7 RUs. You cannot count lunch or break times - just actual training.

Records. Most people receive a certificate of completion at the end of the training class. It shows name, date, course title, contact hours (or RUs), and person granting the certificate (need not be signed). The employee makes a copy of all these certificates and includes them in the recertification journal/logbook. Pay particular attention that the date of the class is within the dates of the three-year ASQ certification. I have attached an example, showing the certificate I issue for in-house classes.

Difference between ISO 9001 and ISO 19011

As one of the member leader experts on standards, ASQ will often ask me to help answer questions they get from the general public. Here is a recent answer I provided.

You asked the ASQ about the differences between the two standards. I can see where the confusion might arise, as the numbers are very similar! But the contents are quite different.

ISO 9001 is the mother of all Quality Management Systems. It lays out the minimal requirements for an acceptable way of managing your business for quality. In the beginning, it was developed as a requirements document to lay on your suppliers. Then it became the foundation for registration (other countries might call this certification) of your own management approach to quality. About a decade ago, various business sectors - aerospace, automotive, medical devices, laboratories, etc. - all used the 9001 document as the base for their specific approaches. They didn't take anything away, but added additional requirements. The year 2000 version is the most used all around the world. The recent 2008 revision is clarification-only. There is no real and substantive difference between the two. By far, the greatest use today is for registration/certification. This is somewhat sad, in that the standard itself is a beautiful way of managing the resources within the enterprise. Registration can get quite bureaucratic and not worth the expense.

ISO 19011 is the International Auditing Standard (my specialty). It was first developed as a means to get all the various registration agencies around the world to do their audits in a consistent manner. It also had support from the multinational companies that had factories - and thus registrations - all around the world and often with different cultures. Norms in Canada are not the same as China! Unfortunately, this registration emphasis in the standard made it somewhat hard for internal auditors and supplier auditors to use it. Plus, there is no requirement to use the standard, other than within the registration industry. For these reasons, the USA wrote a supplement, giving guidance on how to use the principles for internal audits and small organizations. The version you get from ASQ includes that supplement, along with the base document. As this auditing standard was revised, it picked up environmental auditing. Now we are working to get safety auditing in the scope. This supports the premise that auditing is auditing is auditing.

Stress Management

I received this from my colleague in Bagdad, so I guess he should know.

A lecturer, when explaining stress management to an audience, raised a glass of water and asked, "How heavy is this glass of water?"

Answers called out ranged from 8 oz. To 20 oz.

The lecturer replied, "The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how long you try to hold it."

"If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day, you'll have to call an ambulance."

"In each case it's the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes."

He continued, "And that's the way it is with stress management. If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy, we won't be able to carry on."

"As with the glass of water, you have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again. When we're refreshed, we can carry on with the burden."

"So, before you return home tonight, put the burden of work/life down. Don't carry it home. You can pick it up tomorrow."

"Whatever burdens you're carrying now, let them down for a moment if you can. Relax; pick them up later after you've rested.

Life is short. Enjoy!"

And then he shared some ways of dealing with the burdens of life:

• Accept that some days you're the pigeon, and some days you're the statue
• Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat them.
• Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.
• Drive carefully. It's not only cars that can be recalled by their Maker.
• If you can't be kind, at least have the decency to be vague.
• If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.
• It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others.
• Never buy a car you can't push.
• Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time, because then you won't have a leg to stand on.
• Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance.
• Since it's the early worm that gets eaten by the bird, sleep late.
• The second mouse gets the cheese.
• When everything's coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.
• Birthdays are good for you. The more you have, the longer you live.
• You may be only one person in the world, but you may also be the world to one person.
• Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once.
• We could learn a lot from crayons. Some are sharp, some are pretty and some are dull. Some have weird names and all are different colors, but they all have to live in the same box.
• A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.

Advanced Auditor Course

I have finished the development of my new course on Integrated Auditing. Looking back, I believe it is the best work I have done in ten years.

• Contribute to the Grand Unification Theory of Management
• Dig in the dirt with Turtles
• Transform your audit reports from Boring to Brilliant
• Explore the Future of Humanity (and Auditors)

Integrated Systems: The Future of Auditing

Organizations can no longer afford to maintain separate quality, environment, safety and security groups. They all offer ways to reduce risks and increase value. Auditing can also support this movement. Through a series of lectures and group workshops, you will define an integrated management system. Then you will use contemporary process study tools to develop truly useful audit checklists. By discovering patterns in audit data, you will learn how present reports that address business performance. The day will conclude with an examination of the future - of everything, not just auditing. We will explore accelerating technology change and the increasing intelligence of machines. How can auditors continue to add value in this environment?

You already know how to audit. You know about flowcharts and checklists and interviews and reports. It is time for new challenges. You will mix and mingle with other auditors and managers, from different business sectors, under the guidance of a leader in the profession. This is a master class, so come prepared to think and learn and contribute.

Where: Minneapolis, MN, USA
When: September 21, 2009
Cost: $250 US (ASQ member)
Info: www.mnasq.org

Expand Your Professional Network

Of course you have heard of the buzz surrounding social networking, including FaceBook, MySpace, and Twitter. Jeff Jarvis even wrote a book about it, called What Would Google Do? What you may not know is that these community tools can help you professionally.

Plaxo started out a couple of years ago as a way to easily keep your contacts up-to-date. You uploaded your Outlook data and Plaxo sent messages to these contacts, asking if the information was still current. It was a bit intrusive and did not have a huge user base. A couple years ago, one of those crazy ex-Google employees decided to start a different company. His idea was to serve the business community with simple (Google-like) tools to build your network, ask them questions, form associations, and look for work. It was the right idea at the right time. Linked-In is now used by professionals all over the world.

To register, go to http://linkedin.com. The price is right (FREE). By entering your employment and education history, Linked-In will automatically suggest people you might know. Upload your mail addresses and Linked-In will tell you which of them is already a member. There's even a status window, like Twitter, to tell your network what projects you are working on.

But the real value of Linked-In is the groups feature. Anyone can start a group - about any topic. Others can join that group and start discussions, share news, and provide answers. Looking for a job? In the ten groups I belong to (mostly quality), there are probably 100 new postings a day of people and jobs available - all around the world. A simple search of the groups containing "ASQ" in the name yielded over 60 communities. I found these ASQ groups with at least 100 members.

American Society for Quality - 9000
Biomedical Division - 1600
Lean Enterprise Division - 1300
Service Quality Division - 900
ASQ (different from above) - 600
Women in Quality - 500
Software Division - 400
SS Green Belt Hdbk - 400
Quality Management Division - 300
Raleigh Section - 300
Indianapolis Section - 200
Audit Division - 200
Silicon Valley Software - 200
Quality Progress Magazine - 200
Minneapolis Section - 200
Fellows - 100
Certified Quality Mgr. - 100
SF Bay Area Sections - 100
Cert. SS Black Belt - 100
Grand Rapids Section - 100
No. Virginia Section - 100
Design & Const. Division - 100
Supply Chain Mgmt - 100
Healthcare Division - 100

Future Revision of ISO 9001

The international standard for quality management systems, ISO 9001:2008, was updated about a year and a half ago. International rules require standards to be evaluated every five (or so) years for currency. They can be renewed (no change), revised (major change), amended (minor change), or dropped. The 9001 standard went through a minor change.

The technical committee 176 is thinking about future changes to this 9001 standard. Some are huge and some are very tiny. Some are based on trends we see all around us, while some are pet projects of individuals or countries. Hard telling how many of these suggested topics will make it through the deliberations.

1. Integration of risk management. While risk is addressed in many clauses of ISO 9001 it is not explicit. Some users do not recognise the elements of risk management that are already included. There is a need to address the topic of risk explicitly and decide whether this is in relation to risk with product, market, organization, quality management system, compliance, business continuity, supply chain management, resources and infrastructure. International standards for risk management already exist (ISO 31000, 31010, ISO 17766, ISO 14971, ISO/IEC Guide). BSI 25999-1(Business Continuity)
2. Enhanced focus on product conformance. There is an ongoing concern that there are organizations that comply with ISO 9001 but are perceived as not producing a ‘quality’ product. There needs to be a greater emphasis on product conformance, reliability and the outputs of all processes including the design and development process. While these aspects are addressed there is little specificity, with considerable freedom for application by the organization.
3. Financial resources of the organization. Finance resources and financial information are important requirements for an organization but the subject is not addressed in ISO 9001.
4. Maintenance of infrastructure. ISO 9001 refers to ‘maintaining the infrastructure’ (clause 6.3) and the word ‘maintain’ is used in different contexts within the standard (e.g. in terms of ‘maintaining records’). The term ‘maintenance’ is not used but the concept of maintenance is important in relation to product quality.
5. Alignment with business management/practice. Business leaders do not understand the vocabulary and structure of ISO 9001. Examine the possibility of restructuring the standard to better reflect the way that businesses operate.
6. Process Management. ISO 9001:2008 claims to introduce requirements for a process based quality management system, however the concept of “Process Management” is not properly addressed yet. Therefore, the introduction of a sound concept of Process Management is necessary. This includes results, improvement, and effectiveness of processes.
7. Knowledge management. While the inclusion of Knowledge Management concept could have some overlap with the content of ISO 9004; additional research into the concept and the application within the context of ISO 9001 should be considered including definition of the concept. This work should be done in consultation with the development of the concept with ISO 9004.
8. Life cycle management (LCM). ISO 9001:2008 already addresses the issue of life cycle management such as “before service”, “after sales”, “disposal” etc. without explicitly using the term “LCM”.
9. Competence. What are the implications of the concept of competence on our QMS standard and what are the impacts of future technologies, organizational structures, work environments, and business models?
10. Supply Chain Management (and Outsourcing). Evaluate the effect of Supply chain management (and Outsourcing) on the QMS and identify the limits of the responsibilities to manage efficiency and results.
11. Quality Tools. Evaluate which tools are relevant and suit the QMS and the effect they will have on the QMS, including planning, competence and responsibilities.
12. Communication. Internal and external exchange of information with interested parties.
13. Improvement and innovation. Link between the existing in the standard improvement and innovation.
14. Structure of QMS and Relationship with Management Systems. Review the considerations and implications to the structure of the QMS standard and how it aligns or integrates with other Management Systems.
15. Time, Speed, Agility and Related Aspects. Review the implications of the concept of time, speed, and agility on our QMS standard and what are the impacts on organizational structures, work environments, and business models.
16. Impact of Technology and Changes in Information Management. Review the considerations of the changes in technology and information management on the drafting and application of the requirements of the QMS standard.
17. Role of Top Management in the QMS. Review the considerations and implications on the current QMS standard to enhance the linkage and expectations of the relationship between the QMS, the role of top management, and the strategic planning process.
18. Expanding the concept of Customer. Review the implications to the design and application of the QMS standards if the concept and use of the terms customer and supplier were expanded in scope related to internal and external. Determine how to apply the requirements of the QMS standard with an expanded definition. Consider the requirements for assessing conformity.

About half of this topics probably belong in conference papers, rather than an international standard. I believe #1 (risk management) and #14 (integration with other management systems) are perhaps the most important. I see this happening anyway and 9001 needs to hop on the bus.

Supply-chain management is huge in our global business environment, but I am not sure the 9001 standard - used primarily for conformity assessment (registration and certification) - can contribute much.