Stepping Up To Iso 9004: A Practical Guide For Creating A World-class Organization [Paperback]

The first chapter, "Setting Strategic Direction and Implementing Action Plans," stresses the importance of a strategic plan and provides numerous, easy-to-apply, step-by-step checklists that would be especially helpful in first time preparation. By the way, similar checklists are liberally sprinkled throughout the book to facilitate its value to the reader.

The second chapter, "Focusing on the Customer," addresses the absolute necessity of customer focus as well as on the importance and application of Quality Function Deployment (QFD), customer surveys, and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) to facilitate this responsibility.

Chapter 3, "Focusing on Resource Management," begins with a thorough review on how to select the right employees and then moves on to the preparation of a new hire to assure continual improvement (CI). The author succinctly reviews other resources of concern, e.g., financial, natural, suppliers/partners, information, work environment, and infrastructure.

In Chapter 4, "Assessing and Managing Risk," the author explores a variety of types of risk and the consequential exposures that can result from each type. Several checklists are provided to assist in the use of Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA), responding to risk exposures, and computing potential loss and determining actions.

The fifth chapter, "Focusing on Product Realization," examines product planning, purchasing and internal operations control. This is accomplished with pervasive emphasis on CI. The author's personal example about being a newspaper delivery person while still a youngster really hit home for me since I had a similar experience. I suspect this will be a strong connection for many readers of this book.

Chapter 6, "Focusing on Measurement and Analysis," provides a useful look at the popular Balanced Scorecard approach to comprehensive measurement comparisons. The chapter then turns to measuring and analyzing customer satisfaction as well as organizational self-assessment. I fully agree with the author when he re-states the long-standing adage, "What gets measured gets done."

Chapter 7, "Focusing on Continual Improvement," reveals the author's perspectives on coordination of continual improvement efforts, organizational maturity levels, predominate management style, preventive and corrective action, cost reduction and loss prevention, applying lean thinking, teaming and other basic concepts of CI.

Chapter 8, "Benchmarking," presents a comprehensive summary of the topic including several valuable, user-friendly checklists and examples. Of specific interest and, I believe, great importance, the author offers a Benchmarking Code of Conduct.

Chapter 9, "Applying Project Management Tools to Achieve Continual Improvement," describes the project management process and some of the most popular and successful tools currently in use, e.g., Deming's PDCA Cycle, Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), Gantt chart, as well as the AND/CPM/PERT tools and a personnel requirements chart. This chapter is a must have for new or inexperienced project managers.

In Chapter 10, "Stepping Up to World-Class Status," the author begins by asking the question, "Is there life beyond ISO 9004 and the Baldrige criteria?" He then proceeds to compare the Baldrige National Quality Program (BNQP) criteria for excellence versus the strengths and limitations of ISO 9001 and ISO 9004. This is followed by a checklist of actions that lead to world-class status and a listing of the characteristics of a world-class organization. The chapter concludes with a discussion about the need to change management thinking and a final checklist of the necessary characteristics of a world-class leader.

The numerous appendices provide the frosting on the cake that makes a valuable book even more so.

All told, this book is much more enlightening and utilitarian than its title implies. I highly recommend selection of this book for any academic course or industrial training program whose purpose is a comprehensive introduction to continual process improvement.