ISO process and training in selected manufacturing aerospace organizations

The purpose of this study was to examine Southern California aerospace organizations' perceptions regarding benefits from and problems with the ISO 9000 or AS 9100 certification process. Training of personnel was studied as part of the certification process and as a general requirement of both standards. Training referred to the specific training designed for those individuals in charge of the overall certification process and to various training modules targeting all other employees of the organization. This study also addressed the importance of management commitment and involvement throughout the certification and revision process and if past lessons learned were applied during the revision period.;A request to participate in an on-line survey was electronically mailed to quality managers of 285 Southern California manufacturing aerospace organizations. Of those 285, 131 responses were received. The 131 responses were separated into 3 categories depending on the type of approach utilized to achieve ISO 9000 certification, namely a quality manager, a team of employees or a hired consultant. From each of the 3 categories, 8 organizations were chosen at random totaling 24; the quality managers of these organizations were interviewed by telephone or in person.;The major findings are: (1) Increased quality awareness and improved documentation of their quality system were the top two benefits achieved by Southern California manufacturing aerospace organizations rather than improved customer service. (2) The employee team approach appears to have more benefits than having a quality manager or a consultant in charge of the certification process. (3) The success of implementing/revising an ISO 9001/AS 9100 quality system is related to the degree of training of those employees involved in the process. (4) The managers reported having realized little return on investment, but several non-quantifiable benefits were attained. These benefits include eliminated procedure redundancies, improved communication, and improved knowledge about the organization. (5) More emphasis and commitment in training is required to achieve all feasible benefits from the certification process. (6) A high level of commitment and involvement of executive management is required to maintain an effective ISO 9000/AS 9100 system after the initial certification audit.