Latest News & Opinion on the ISO Certification Scheme
ISO Survey Data 22nd Cycle (2012) Now Available
ISO has released the 22nd edition of its annual ISO Survey, presenting data on the worldwide totals of various ISO standards, such as ISO 9001. The file may be downloaded for free. The link for the ISO Survey 2012 can be found at:...
Soft Grading: Still Alive and Well
Feedback from frustrated prime contractors and other stakeholders during the early 2000's led to a push against the practice by Certification Bodies (CBs) of "soft grading" nonconformities. This is where an auditor finds a nonconformity of a certain severity, but...
ISO / IAF Considering Universal ISO 9001 Registry of Certified Companies
ISO 9001 accreditation rules require that each certification body (CB) maintain a publicly-accessible registry of its certified clients. But with the large number of international CBs, and without any standardization for how the information is presented, users have...
Unaccredited Registrar Daryl Guberman Doesn’t Know What Product Certification Is
In a manifesto appearing on the site for his unaccredited ISO 9001 certificate mill G-PMC, owner Daryl Guberman accuses accredited registrars of violating rules he doesn't adhere to himself. Specifically, he calls out certification bodies, including DNV, for failing...
Oxebridge Defeats ISO Legal Move That Would Have “Threatened Entire Industry”
Tampa FL --- Oxebridge has successfully shut down a legal maneuver by lawyers representing the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) which would have made it illegal for any company, consultant, certification body or person to use the term "ISO 9001"...
Five Things Consultants Can Do to Fix ISO 9001’s Reputation
ANAB and the accreditation bodies are only one player in the ISO 9001 ecosystem. They, along with the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) are probably in the best position to do the most good in the shortest time, due to their power in the industry, but this...
Five Things ANAB Can Do Right Now to Fix ISO 9001’s Reputation
ISO 9001 in the US is on the decline, and there are many places to lay blame. The infrastructure surrounding ISO 9001 certification scheme is a complex organism, comprised of relationships between clients, consultants, auditors, certification bodies (CBs),...
“Value Added” Auditing May Be Illegal
Despite only being accredited for "conformity assessments," Conformity Assessment Bodies (see? it's in their name) nevertheless market their services as "value added auditing" in order to distinguish themselves from competitors. Of course nowadays nearly every...
ISO Data: Less Than 0.5% of Organizations Requested Risk Management Be Included in ISO 9001:2015
According to official ISO User Survey data, when asked whether risk management should be included in ISO 9001:2015, only 4,560 companies responded favorably. ISO commissioned a survey of current and potential ISO 9001 users in July 2009, in order to "better understand...
Oxebridge Launches Management Maturity Model (M3) Development Forum
Oxebridge has launched the first step in the development of the Management Maturity Model standards, or "M3" at the following URL: http://www.emthreedev.org The M3 Development project, formerly called "ALT 9001", will attempt to use modern technology to crowdsource...
Pulse Medical: Using ISO 9001 for Real World Improvements
I am watching Barb Boyce "torture" her employees. It's a word she uses often, but whenever she says it, her employees smile. It's not torture, of course; instead it means they will be quizzed on their manufacturing processes by the President of the company herself....
How Registrars Can Survive Under ISO 9001:2015
ISO 9001:2015, based on the Committee Draft (which is unlikely to change at all before it becomes a final standard), takes the vague "New Age" language of 9001:2000 and does the impossible: it makes it MORE vague. Defended as "removing prescription," the requirements...
Did DNV Just “Seriously Infringe” ISO’s Copyright?
ISO has elected to pursue some parties with legal action for trademark and copyright infringement over publication of the ISO 9001:2015 Committee Draft. Oxebridge maintains that effort is selective on ISO's part, but ISO strongly disagrees. If ISO's stand is correct,...
Six Sense Auditing: How Your Eyeballs Fail You During Audits
Vision is great. It helps us to drive our cars, choose our mates, and accurately spear a woolly mammoth for dinner; often in that order, if your date goes well. But when it comes to conducting audits, our eyeballs let us down. They lead us down the wrong path, and...
How on Earth Did “Human Factors” Get Slipped into ISO 9001:2015?
For all the evidence that TC 176 ignored the aerospace industry, one odd requirement seems to have snuck in, seemingly through aerospace intervention. You can't tell because the requirement isn't named as such, but it's the "Human Factors" requirement from AS9110, the...
Video: Review of ISO 9001:2015’s Process Approach Requirements
In this video shot in a hotel room kitchen (because my next video is how to make foie gras and grilled asparagus in truffle oil), I talk about the problems in the ISO 9001:2015's Committee Draft specific to the process approach. Click the video above for the...
Oxebridge Launches Seminars for Certification Bodies
Oxebridge founder and VP Operations Christopher Paris is launching a series of seminars targeted at Certification Bodies, in order to help them improve and maintain their customer base during an era of dwindling interest in QMS certification. Ignore Those Surveys: Top...
IAQG Presentation on the Future of AS9100
The International Aerospace Quality Group has released a presentation on future developments for AS9100, including how the upcoming revision to ISO 9001 will affect the aerospace standard. You may download the presentation here. (PDF - 639 kb - English)
ISO 9001:2015 Committee Draft Available
ISO has released the Committee Draft (CD) of ISO 9001:2015 for voting and comment by its member nations. Document no longer available. Please direct any feedback on the content of the CD to your nation's member body within ISO TC 176.
Official ISO Documents Contradict TC 176 Statement re: Quality Management Principles
In his response to the Public Call for Temporary Cessation of Development of ISO 9001:2015, TC 176 Chair Dr. Gary Cort challenged the point that the new ISO 9001 revision is being developed without the Quality Management Principles finalized. The QMPs are supposed to...
Has TC 176 Violated its Own Procedures on 9001 Development?
From Charles Corrie to Roger Frost to numerous TC 176 reps, right up to TC 176 Chair Dr. Gary Cort, the talking point is that ISO must follow its established procedures when developing international standards. Using this mantra, they avoid being confronted with...
Chris Paris Addresses TC 176 Argument Against ISO 9001:2015 Pause (UPDATED)
I don't want to belabor the debate beyond its usefulness, and I maintain that my Public Call for Temporary Cessation in the Development of ISO 9001:2015 remains valid as-is, but ISO TC 176 Chair Dr. Gary Cort has taken the time to distribute a response, and some of...
TC 176 Chair Gary Cort Responds to Oxebridge “Public Call”
TC 176 Chair Dr. Gary Cort has issued a formal response to Oxebridge's public call for a temporary halt in the development of ISO 9001:2015, to give time to consider the views of key industries and stakeholders. Dr. Cort's response is reprinted in its entirety here,...
The One-Question Survey ISO Needs to Run Right Now
The gripe against surveys from both survey recipients and survey developers is that length is the joy-killer. No one likes answering 50 questions, and companies don't like making them either. So well-known is the problem, that online surveys regularly include an...
South African Presentation on Auditor Behavior Includes Racist Graphic
A 2012 presentation to the Southern African Auditor and Training Certification Association (SAATCA) on auditor competence and behavior includes a racist graphic, Oxebridge has learned. "A Question of Competence: A Paper to the 2012 SAATCA Conference" was given by Iain...
Early Support for Halt to ISO 9001:2015 Development
Yes, I am as surprised as you are by that headline. While certainly less radical than some of Oxebridge's previous attempts to improve the ISO 9001 certification scheme, I have no illusions that calling on ISO -- a ship that does not right itself easily -- to pause in...
DNV Aerospace Rep: ISO User Feedback is “Moronic”
ISO 9001 registrar DNV's Director of Aviation, Space & Defense Services Sidney Vianna sits on the AAQG committee responsible for drafting the next edition of AS9100, and frequently gives seminars on topics related to ISO 9001 standards development. Despite the...
Management Maturity Model – Draft Schema
The Management Maturity Model (AKA "ALT 9001") would be comprised of two levels of "practices" (preferred term, rather than "requirements.") The first level (indicated by the number 1) is the Trunk, and includes practices for all management systems of any type which...
Oxebridge Calls for Temporary Halt to ISO 9001:2015 Development
Oxebridge has released a paper calling on ISO TC 176 to issue a temporary halt in development of ISO 9001:2015, citing four "converging factors" that it feels will permanently damage both ISO and ISO 9001 if the standard is allowed to proceed: Failure to fully develop...
Tinsmithing in the Age of the Boson: How ISO 9001 Revisions Go Wrong
Today a friend of mine, who does some work with TC 176, wrote asking my feedback on making minor word changes to 9001. He specifically noted 9001:2000's struggle with "product" and "service," and hinted that some simple terms may yet again be up for grabs as part of...
RABQSA: Del Straight NOT Certified Lead Auditor (UPDATED)
Just received this from Teresa Tidball at RABQSA: I have checked our system and do not have any record of a Del Straight being or having been certified with us. For years, Del Straight has advertised himself as a RABQSA Certified Lead Auditor, including using the...
Unaccredited Registrar Del Straight Calls Critics Sex Offenders, Drunks and Terrorists
It's been a tough month or two for the certificate mill operators. Since getting confronted for their activities on LinkedIn, we've seen QualityMasters' Mike Kuklewski accuse the entire ISO 9001 forum of censorship, and claim it was like a "crucifixion," while...
ISO 9001 Growth: the Truth about Asia
Presumably to deflect the nagging issue of ISO 9001 declining growth rates, ISO has taken to pointing to "Asia" as the glimmer of hope for the standard. I put that in quotes for a reason, so stay with me. The last release of the annual "ISO Survey" includes data as of...
10 Questions for Daryl Guberman
As he prepares for his April 17th ASQ speaking event, here are some questions we may want to have Daryl Guberman answer about his unaccredited certificate mill, G-PMC: 1.) You have called ANAB a monopoly. You then entered into an exclusive accreditation arrangement...
Humor: If ISO Ran the Michelin Awards
Shaun Sayers has a hilarious post on his CapablePeople blog, "What a Way to Run a Certification Scheme." It presents a scathing view of how ISO would manage the Michelin Star restaurant awards, if given the chance. Here's a snippet: “What sort of things are they...
