ISO9001:2008 -> Q&A in Outsouring................Mr. Govind Ramu

Q1 : “What is Outsouring?”

i) Outsourcing is the transfer of products, services, and business processes to an external service provider.
ii) Outsourcing involves contracting with an outsourcing partner, which may or may not involve offshoring.
iii) Other terms used in the outsourcing world are “multisourcing”, “nearshoring”, etc.

Q2: “Why Outsourcing?”

Four factors were considered:
i) Significantly reduce overall costs.
ii) Reduce “Time to Volume” (TTV) for new products.
iii) Access to an abundance of human resources, localized skills and knowledge, etc.
iv) Supply chain efficiencies when products are shipped directly to customers (Drop Ship) – which related to Lean.

Q3: “What Does Quality have to do with outsourcing?”

Quality is applicable to the overall process of creating products and/or services, which all aspects of outsourcing are considered. Without due diligence and appropriate controls, outsourcing could end up being costlier than in-house manufacturing or service, and customer dissatisfaction.


Therefore, ISO 9001:2008 version concerned the control over outsourced processes.



i) Quality in Project Management
· Scope Creep, Risk Management & Lessons Learned
· Challenges: IP Protection
ii) Quality in Team Management
· Managing multicultural team and their roles & responsibilities
· RACI or RASCI (Who responsible? Who accountable? Who to be consulted? Who to be informed? Who to be supporter?)
· Challenges: Team Attribute and Virtual Teams
iii) Quality in Communications Management
· Avoid the lost out of listening (using active listening)
· Challenges: Technical Interpretation & Virtual Teams
iv) Quality in Knowledge Management
· Structured Approach: DIKW Chain-the-metaphorical (Link, pace & node of transfer)
· Challenges: Tacit Knowledge (Encourage documenting tacit knowledge by driving out fear)
v) Quality in Supply Chain Management
· Supplier Selection, Performance, Improvement & Service Level Agreement (SLA)
· Challenges: IP Protection
vi) Quality in Engineering Management
· Business Model; Traceability-record Retention and Third Party Surveillance
· Challenges: Failure Cost

Tips in Choosing a Consultant

The Certifying Body should not be the Consultant!
Do not believe consultants who claim alignment to a specific Certifying Body. Everyone must be aligned to the standard
Do not believe in claims that they can coerce a certain Certifying Body to issue an easy certificate
Do they have the industry capability / management system capability?
Check the Track record
Scope of work should be defined
Timeline should be defined

Tips in Choosing a Certifying Body

Choosing a certification body

The following comments from ISO :

When choosing a certification body to carry out ISO 9001:2000 or ISO 14001:2004 certification, these are the aspects the organization needs to take into account.

The first point is that an organization can implement ISO 9001:2000 or ISO 14001:2004without seeking certification. The best reason for wanting to implement the standards is to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of company operations. Certification of the management system is not an ISO 9001:2000 or ISO 14001:2004 requirement.

Deciding to have an independent audit of the system to confirm that it conforms to ISO 9001:2000 or ISO 14001:2004 is a decision to be taken on business grounds: for example
if it is a contractual or regulatory requirement
if it is a market requirement or to meet customer preferences
if it falls within the context of a risk management programme
or if the organization thinks it will motivate staff by setting a clear goal for the development of its management system.

Criteria to consider include:
evaluate several certification bodies
bear in mind that the cheapest might prove to be the most costly if its auditing is below standard, or if its certificate is not recognized by the organization's customers establish whether the certification body has auditors with experience in the organization's sector of activity establish whether the certification body implements, or is migrating to ISO/IEC 17021:2006, Conformity assessment – Requirements for bodies providing audit and certification of management systems

Another point to clarify is whether or not the certification body has been accredited and, if so, by whom. Accreditation, in simple terms, means that a certification body has been officially approved as competent to carry out certification in specified business sectors by a national accreditation body.
In most countries, accreditation is a choice, not an obligation and the fact that a certification body is not accredited does not, by itself, mean that it is not a reputable organization.

For example, a certification body operating nationally in a highly specific sector might enjoy such a good reputation that it does not feel there is any advantage for it to go to the expense of being accredited. That said, many certification bodies choose to seek accreditation, even when it is not compulsory, in order to be able to demonstrate an independent confirmation of their competence.

The list of accreditation bodies with their contact information and links to their Web sites can be found on the Internet site of the International Accreditation Forum (www.iaf.nu), under "Members" > "Accreditation members". In general, accreditation bodies' Web sites contain an up-to-date list of certification bodies that they have accredited which can be used for selecting a certification body.


Summary of consideration factors

- The Certifying Body should not be the Consultant!
- Local Capability or Import?
- In-house or Subcontracted Auditors
- Should not only be recognized in your region but globally recognized (IAF)
- Prestige / Mileage (known by your customer)
- Geographic Strength
- Accreditation to Certify the Standard in Question
- Accreditation to Certify the specific Industry Scope in Question (3rd party vs 2nd party audit)
- Authorization of Auditors?
- Pricing?
- Track Record?
- Client Retention?
- Expansion Options?

Why Certification? => Benefits of Certification !

Why Certification?

To Satisfy Customer / Government Requirements
To Pre-Qualify for Projects / Supplier Accreditation
To Minimize Problems / Risks
To Optimize Operations
For Consistency
To Plug out Leaks /Lost Money
To Convert Human Intellectual Capital into Structural Capital (Knowledge Management)
For Continual Improvement (PDCA)
To be used as a Management Tool
To be used as a Marketing Tool


Benefits of Certification

Customer Focus :
Satisfies Customer Requirement & Expectations
Reduced Risks
Consistency In Specifications
Improved Quality
On-Time Completion


Marketing tool
Repeat Business
Higher Economic Returns
Improved Image
Marketing Edge
Internationally Recognized Quality

Increase capability
Improved Inter-Office Communications
Improved Company Performance
Controlled Processes
Corrective Action


Value for Money
Reduced Wastage of Materials
Reduced Production Cost


Prevention
Preventive Measures