We don't really want to be accused of attempting to pillory the work of the controversial and entertaining John Seddon (this is the second consecutive entry in which we've referred to his work in a slightly "FURB" way), however we can't help feeling that when the discussion hots up about how crap ISO 9000 is, that many people could do with taking a step back and asking the question "yeah, but if it's so crap how come it's so popular?".

Mr S (and others besides) have been selective with their use and interpretation of stats. For example, whilst registrations in the UK are falling, a large part of this is down to the fact that the number of manufacturing companies (the ISO stronghold) is falling, rather than companies are allowing their certification to lapse and "deserting ISO 9001 in droves". Secondly, registration is certainly not falling worldwide. Whilst there may be opportunity to blame the policies of the Conservative government for fueling the ISO trade in the UK in the 1980's, you can't blame them for the worldwide phenomenon over the last 3 decades. Thirdly, to cite the example of Toyota electing not to adopt ISO 9001 certification as an example of it's worthlessness is slightly misleading. They still require certification of their suppliers down to tier 3 level, so if it is so bad .... ?  There are lies, damned lies and statistics, as they say. OK, so ISO 9000 is badly written and often even more badly applied and enforced, so it's a soft target .. Not sure about you, though, but we get a bit nervous about people who kick a soft target and enjoy it so much they can't stop. Move on!!!!

Anyway, the thread on the isixsigma site is both enlightening and entertaining. However many contributors have fundamentally missed the point in all the hubub. It is inappropriate to compare the effectiveness of each as a means of process control. If that were the only question there would be no comparison. Six sigma is a far superior  methodology, and there are many methodologies superior to ISO 9001, if we're honest.  So why do six sigma companies bother with ISO 9001?  Well, in the vast majority of cases, simply because the customer requires it.  So in order to evaluate the effectiveness of third party certification to ISO 9001, we have to analyse it from the customer's perspective. Otherwise it's a bit like trying to evaluate the value of free in flight meals on an airline by asking the airline's quality department - it's irrelevant what they think!!! To get at the long and the short of it all you have to go to the consumer, and in ISO terms the consumer is not the registered organisation, it's those people that want the registered organisation to be registered in the first place. Consumer demand drives supply in all things and ISO certification is no different. If you're going to ask any department about the value of ISO 9001 registration to the company, maybe Commercial would be best placed to accurately quantify it.

So the only substantive question in this whole debate is "what value does ISO 9001 certification offer the customer?" Well we've been in the "customer's shoes" in the past and the simple fact is that when you've got the opportunity to contract out an attractive piece of work there are loads of people hopping up and down shouting "pick me! pick me!". Frankly in that position you welcome any quick, consistent and economic method for taking a long list and developing a short list. Until something better comes along, ISO 9001 certification is the best there is for doing that. As a customer you don't pretend that every registered company will be world class or even good enough to use, but it does tell you that they have made a bit of effort and got their heads round some basic concepts like auditability of systems, quality control, training and traceability in process. You can then go and have a closer look at your short list if you want, apply your own stricter criteria to those that remain and make your own mind up whose best of those that are left.

Is this right? Well, whilst the customer may not always be right, the customer is king, and as things stand the customer still likes certification.