You can’t keep a good nutjob down, especially in the ISO certification business. Deann Minamino, who was once the “Aerospace Global Scheme Owner” for SAI Global, has popped up once again as the Accreditation Manager for TUV USA, a branch of TUV-NORD. SAI Global was bought by Intertek, and Minamino promptly disappeared. This means that Minamino’s signature now shows up on every cert issued by TUV USA.
Evidence, Shevidence
The character of this story is either tragic or funny, depending on your level of positivity towards batshittery. It was Minamino who once claimed, with a totally straight face, that AS9100 auditors were “moving away from” recording mandatory objective evidence to support audit findings and nonconformities. This came about after an SAI auditor tried to support a questionable nonconformity by citing a made-up conversation he had with imaginary people. The client said the exchange never happened, and the auditor refused to say who, exactly, he spoke to; so the nonconformity was based on fan fiction and exactly ZERO recorded objective evidence. The complaint was escalated to Minamino, who defended her auditor and let the wholly unsupported nonconformity stand. She then went further, arguing that auditors can write vague nonconformities without citing any evidence, and that it’s the client’s responsibility to capture the evidence in their personal notes. Well, umm, no… none of that complies with either AS9101 or ISO 17021-1.
But that’s kind of her jam: defending her auditors even when they appear to be on meth. It’s a great deal if you’re a methhead ISO auditor; not so much for her clients, though.
In my opinion, of course.
Summon the TARDIS
In another instance, Minamino appeared to think that time travel exists. When one of SAI’s auditors wrote a finding claiming some internal audits had not complied with the company’s procedures, we pointed out that the audit reports pre-dated the procedure. Every audit since the procedure was written had complied. Rather than simply delete the nonconformity, since the auditor’s evidence was improper, Minamino argued that the client needed to go back and redo the past audits. When we pointed out that two entire internal audit cycles had been done since that time, Minamino would not be moved and insisted that the client redo the audits in the past. In that case, we filed an official OASIS complaint against Minamino, reminding SAI Global that “time travel is not real.”
Whether Minamino was fired over that or, more likely, she was merely shitcanned when Intertek bought SAI, she fell off that company’s letterhead. IAQG ignored the complaint and then threw it out when it mass-deleted complaints from stakeholders in a complete purge of the OASIS ticket system.
What’s really going on here is that Minamino does not appear to have the courage to stand up against her auditors, and they know it. She rolls over and throws her own clients under the bus rather than hold her auditors to the rules. Now, SAI Global had a pool of really bad auditors; I don’t know if that’s the case at TUV USA, but if they hired Minamino, it doesn’t give me confidence on who they hire to perform audits.
In my opinion, of course.
Discount on Something That’s Already Free
Now Minamino has popped up at TUV USA, with her name appearing on a confusing memo issued by the CB about IAF CertSearch fees… or something. Appearntly still in a headspace that thinks time travel and invisible people exist, Minamino’s letter to clients offers them a 25% discount on something she later says is free.
In the letter below, Minamino brags about a TUV USA discount code for a CertSearch subscription plan, but then says that clients can enter their information in the system and “there is no cost to do so.”
Yeah, I can’t make any sense of it either. I think what Minamino meant to say is that companies can enter their data into CertSearch for free, which is true. There’s not much point in doing so, however, since it just gives the IAF information to use when spamming.
Minamino then says that doing so will make your ISO 9001 certification “easier to find by your current and potential customers,” making it appear that Minamino has no damn clue how CertSearch works. You see, certification bodies (like TUV USA) are required to upload that information, not you. That happens whether you make an account or not, and your certificates are just as visible in CertSearch either way.
What you can subscribe to is CertSearch’s advanced searching abilities, and this is the discount (I think) Minamino is offering. The “Basic Plan” costs a whopping $500 a year and only gives limited search capabilities. Mind you, you get free searches every month with no subscription at all, so there is little reason for anyone to really buy a paid sub unless you’re checking ISO certs all the time. That’s simply not something many companies do, and given how bad the IAF CertSearch data is, it’s not something really worth buying.
So, yeah, add TUV USA to the list of CBs I can’t endorse. (You see, ISO 17021 prohibits me from saying any particular CB is faster, cheaper, or easier, but I am allowed to say when they absolutely and totally suck.)
But, listen, you Doctor Who fans and adults who still talk to your childhood imaginary friends might find a kindred spirit in Minamino, so please, send all your money to TUV USA. If you like knowing their management will support their auditors no matter how many rules they break, it might be the perfect business relationship for ya.
In my opinion, of course.
Christopher Paris is the founder and VP Operations of Oxebridge. He has over 35 years’ experience implementing ISO 9001 and AS9100 systems, and helps establish certification and accreditation bodies with the ISO 17000 series. He is a vocal advocate for the development and use of standards from the point of view of actual users. He is the writer and artist of THE AUDITOR comic strip, and is currently writing the DR. CUBA pulp novel series. Visit www.drcuba.world
