Content area
Full Text
A primary objective for the upcoming revised ISO 9000 series of quality-management standards is to include sectorspecific requirements. However, that goal has hit a snag, as members of each constituency realize that meshing standards isn't that easy. At the crux of this latest development is the prescriptive nature of QS-9000 and the descriptive methodology of ISO 9000. "Our ultimate destination is still the same, but we'll be taking different routes," said Reg Shaughnessy, international chairperson of ISO 9000's technical committee (TC) 176 and president of Q-Norm Inc. Quality Productivity and Safety Services, Toronto.
TC 176, which is responsible for ISO 9000, and the Supplier Quality Requirements Task Force, which developed the automotive-specific QS-9000, have, in a sense, parted company as they each work on revisions to their respective...