Latest Reporting, Editorials & Guidance Documents
News

Why CMMI is A Better Alternative for Manufacturing Than ISO 9001
As ISO 9001’s popularity and uptake declines, company may want to start examining the CMMI model as a potential new approach to prove quality system excellence.

Oxebridge Updates ISO 17025 Program, Launches ISO 17034 Implementation Service
Oxebridge has updated its ISO 17025 consulting program to the latest version of that standard, aimed at calibration and testing labs, while adding a new implementation program for ISO 17034, the standard for reference material producers.

IAF “Scrapped” User Data from Man-Day Survey, Said Asking Users Was “Inappropriate”
Internal email from the IAF and QuEST Forum show that the groups “scrapped” a survey on minimum audit day requirements after the survey was leaked to the public and ISO 9001 end user organizations by Oxebridge. The email indicated that distribution of the survey to users was “inappropriate” and that actions would be taken to prevent the public from commenting in the future.

US TAG 176 Participation Plummets, Member Category Falsification Continues
An analysis of the US TAG 176 member roster now, compared to 2015, show the group has lost 43% of its members, but continues to show dominance by consultants and registrars.

Basque Researcher: Chinese ISO 9001 Certificates Not To Be Trusted
A Basque University research team has concluded that ISO 9001 certificates coming from China cannot be trusted.

ISO Deputy Secretary-General Awarded Honorary Professorship After Supporting Contracts at Chinese University
ISO’s Deputy Secretary-General Nicolas Fleury received an “Honorary Professor” credential from Qingdao University in the People’s Republic of China shortly after appearing at a conference in which ISO lent official recognition of a facility there.

ISO’s Secretary General Mujica Once Led Chilean Customs Agency Accused of Facilitating Tax Evasion, Drug Trafficking
ISO Secretary-General Sergio Mujica once ran the Chilean customs agency, which was accused of facilitating drug trafficking, tax evasion and the illegal exchange of contraband.

Government Shutdown Hits NIST, Impacting on Calibrations Worldwide
The shutdown of the Federal government may eventually cause major nonconformities for ISO 9001 and AS9100 certified companies who rely on NIST calibrations.

Court Throws Out Majority of Levinson Lawsuit, Rules Oxebridge Has Protections as News Organization
A Florida court has thrown out six of seven counts made by ASQ’s William Levinson in his defamation lawsuit against Oxebridge, while granting Oxebridge the protections of a news organization.

ISO 9000 Conference Chair, TAG 176 Member Falsely Claims AS9100 “Accreditation”
Robert Freeman, the new chair of the 2019 ISO 9000 World Conference, falsely claims his consulting company holds AS9100 “accreditation,” despite OASIS revealing he holds no such certification.
Opinion

Counterfeit Electronic Producers Boast ISO Certifications, Accreditations
Multiple Chinese companies selling counterfeit electronic components are illegally using the logos of ISO, IAF and CNAS, but these organizations appear to have little interest in policing fraud in China.

Boeing’s Alan Daniels Was Quietly Elected US TAG 176 Chair
Alan Daniels of Boeing was secretly voted in to replace TAG 176 Chair Paul Palmes.

Who’s Running the US TAG to TC 176?
Paul Palmes appears to have stepped down as US TAG 176 Chair, but there’s been no formal announcement, nor election for his replacement. So who’s running the TAG now?

ASQ Used Skewed “Poll” Question to Generate Evidence for Its Pro-China Article
ASQ ran an opinion poll months ago, in an apparent attempt to generate anti-American sentiment to support a planned editorial in support of China, which was later published in Quality Progress.

ASQ Takes Its Pro-China Posture to the Pages of Quality Progress
ASQ goes all-in on China with a Quality Progress article that’s curiously supportive of the Communist dictatorship.

Smithers Republished ISO 9001, Too
Oh, Smithers published an ISO 9001 gap analysis tool that includes the text of the standard, and then claimed copyright on that, too.

Sixteen Months Later, IAQG Still Won’t Answer Official Query on AS9100 DowngradesÂ
An official request for clarification about whether AS9100 clients can downgrade to ISO 9001 mid-audit remains unanswered in the IAQG’s OASIS for over 16 months.

Oops. Smithers Just Published A Huge Portion of the ISO 14001:2015 Standard, for Free
The registrar Smithers Quality Assessments just published an ISO 14001 “gap analysis” tool that includes a massive portion of the ISO 14001:2015 standard itself, and they dropped it for free while claiming copyright over it.

The Registrar Company Really Doesn’t Want You To Know They Are Behind ISOUpdate.com
The Registrar Company has taken great pains to ensure you don’t know they are actually behind the industry “news” site ISOUpdate.com.

IAF Releases Survey on Minimum Audit Man-Days
The IAF has released a survey to gauge opinion on its rules for mandatory audit days.
Guidance Documents

The Only Acceptable Way to Write an Audit “Opportunity for Improvement”
Most ISO 9001 and AS9100 auditors hide their consulting under “opportunities for improvement,” and thus violate the accreditation rules. This article describes how to write an OFI without crossing the line into consulting.

Oxebridge ISO 9001 Template Kit Version 1.10 Released!
Oxebridge has released version 1.10 “The Awesome Audit Update” of the Oxebridge free QMS template kit.

Your Lowest Cost Options for ISO 9001 or AS9100 Implementation
The range of costs for ISO 9001 or AS9100 implementation is vast, depending on the level of service you want. For tiny companies, this can be intimidating; Oxebridge breaks down the costs of each level of consulting available.

How To Ensure Your Registrar Uses the Right Industry Codes, and Why It’s Important
ISO 9001 and other registrars are required to assign the right SIC, NACE and IAF codes relative to your scope of business, to ensure the right auditors are assigned to your contract; here’s how to check if they’ve done it right.

Implementing the ISO 9001:2015 “Process Approach”
Since it was first made part of ISO 9001 in the year 2000, the “process approach” has confused readers; this comprehensive article aims to decipher the process approach requirements of the latest standard, ISO 9001:2015.

COTO Interruptus: The Missing ISO 9001 Clause on Strategic Direction
An excerpted chapter from Surviving ISO 9001:2015, regarding the need to develop a “strategic direction” despite ISO 9001 lacking a firm requirement to do so.

Great Third-Party Sources of Info to Support the Trickier AS9100 Clauses
These third-party websites may offer some help in supporting your approaches related to AS9100 Rev D’s trickier clauses.

Free ISO 9001 Template Kit Updated to v. 1.9: Includes New Training Presentation
Oxebridge has updated its free ISO 9001:2015 QMS Template Kit, which now includes improved audit and CAR logs, and a 60-slide training slide deck for employees.

Updated AS9100 Template Kit version 1.1: The “Awesome Audit Log Update”
Oxebridge’s free AS9100 template kit has been updated to version 1.1.

Everything We Thought We Knew About ITAR Is Wrong
Companies are ignoring, dismissing or underestimating the impact of ITAR’s latest flowdown push; the risks of failing to implement ITAR properly include jail for those involved, so it’s worth getting educated, fast.
Humor & Everything Else

Why CMMI is A Better Alternative for Manufacturing Than ISO 9001
As ISO 9001’s popularity and uptake declines, company may want to start examining the CMMI model as a potential new approach to prove quality system excellence.

Let’s Take A Break and Talk Wine For A Minute
Oxebridge takes a break from the dull ISO world to announce its sister website, Winepisser, has announced its 2018 Best Wine award winner. Also the Worst Wine.

ANAB’s New Org Structure Goes Flat, But Like REALLY Flat
ANAB’s new organizational structure is a flat sea of Vice Presidents, ensuring the organization’s ability to manage is crippled.

ISO’s “Brand Integrity” Goal is a 1980 Softcore Incest Porn Movie
In the Azores, the ISO 9001 Brand Integrity met and things got icky.

CQI Awarded the Guy Who Invented Risk-Based Thinking, Plus China and (Ahem) Amway
Britain’s CQI gave awards to the guy who invented risk-based thinking, while throwing a bone to China and — inexplicably — Amway.

Happy Halloween, IAQG Has Dozens of “Ghost Auditors” Roaming the Planet
Analyzing the total auditor figures in the IAQG OASIS database reveals a horde of undead zombie auditors roaming the world, just in time for Halloween. Boo!

Cartoonist Goes Nuclear on ISO 9001
Nuclear expert Martin Wakeman has published a cartoon series criticizing ISO for relying on consultants to develop its standards.

Oxebridge Launches New Merchandise Site, Snarky FOD Posters Released
Oxebridge has launched an official merchandise website at www.oxebridge.biz, with the first set of products being a line of snarky FOD posters for aerospace companies.

Get Ready for Oxebridge’s FOD Posters
Oxebridge is getting ready to release a set of snarky, hilarious FOD posters for aerospace companies.

New to Nadcap Audits? Here’s What to Expect
Nadcap special process accreditation is being flowed down to more and more aerospace manufacturers; here’s what you need to know.