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...
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...
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...
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,...
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...
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...