MS88.OCT–Stat-A-Matrix–sc
Defense industry gears up for ISO 9000
Conforming to ISO 9000 has enough built-in advantages to make it
worthwhile for defense electronics contractors to consider the benefits of
ISO 9000 registration
BY PAUL BERMAN Stat-A-Matrix Group Edison, NJ
The adoption of the ISO 9000 quality assurance standards by the European
Community and most of the industrialized world will certainly have an
impact on the electronics industry. For the military sector, the
Department of Defense's intention to replace MIL-Q-9858A (DOD) and
MIL-I-45208A with ISO 9000 standards will have an added effect on the
defense segment of the electronics industry. But just what the impact will
be is still unclear. (For more information on ISO 9000, see “A look inside
ISO 9000,” p. xxx.) Although mandatory imposition of the ISO 9000
standards will probably be gradual, acceptance of ISO 9000 quality systems
may come about a lot sooner than most companies think. Moreover,
conforming to ISO 9000 has enough built-in advantages to make it
worthwhile for defense electronics contractors to consider the benefits of
ISO 9000 registration. Two groups of forces are currently at work. One is
an inherent set of inertial factors that tend to inhibit rapid adoption of
new systems and procedures in the defense community. The other comprises
the international business and political factors, plus local economic
considerations, that push for rapid acceptance of anything that keeps the
United States competitive in the world economy while offering both DOD and
its suppliers a chance to save money.
ISO vs. MIL standards There has been a lot of discussion–much of it
erroneous–about the differences between MIL-Q-9858A and ISO 9001 (the
most extensive of the ISO 9000 standards, covering design through
servicing). The fact is, the specs are very similar in their application.
Both are generic: they are designed to cover a wide variety of products.
MIL-Q-9858A, however, is customer-specific: it contains some clauses that
apply primarily to the U.S. Government as the purchaser. Moreover, the
scope of the two is roughly the same. ISO 9001 states that it is aimed at
“preventing nonconformity at all stages from design to servicing.”
MIL-Q-9858A is designed to assure quality throughout “design, development,
fabrication, processing, assembly, inspection, test, maintenance,
packaging, shipping, storage and site installation.” The differences are
in some of the details and in ISO's broader definition of what functions
affect quality. MIL-Q-9858A, for example, contains no specific
requirements for design control, traceability, or after-sales servicing.
But defense electronic suppliers know that design review and verification,
configuration management, and product support are DOD requirements and
will have no problem in understanding or meeting ISO 9001 requirements.
Another difference is in ISO 9001's requirements for extensive internal
documentation, record-keeping, and self-audits. Here, large defense
contractors won't find much difference from what they do now. Smaller
contractors (particularly those complying with MIL-I-45208A) may, however,
have to create new documentation and audit procedures to meet these
requirements. All defense contractors, however, will probably have to add
some new procedures; for example, contract review is a formal ISO 9001
requirement.
Compliance vs. registration The real question for the defense
electronics industry is registration, which can be costly and
time-consuming. Most defense contractors automatically assume DOD will
require registration. That's highly unlikely. DOD (or at least parts of
it) may not even recognize registration. Or, if they do, they might not
accept it in all situations. DOD has always maintained that compliance
with a standard should be evaluated on a contract-by-contract basis:
what's suitable for one program may be inadequate for another. DOD will
require compliance when an ISO 9000 standard is specified in a contract.
Registration may be accepted as partial evidence of compliance.
Registration probably will be required, however, for some of other
customers. So whether to seek registration is a business decision that
each company will have to make. The long-term nature of the
DOD-contractor relationship is the strongest force slowing down
implementation of ISO 9000 as the primary DOD quality system
specification. Major procurements last for decades. Suppliers provide the
same (or modified) parts and assemblies years after production ends. The
percentage of totally new procurements each year is relatively small.
Because of this long-term relationship, many procurements may be
“grandfathered.” If a proven supplier states that changing its quality
system will add cost, it is unlikely a new quality system specification
will be mandated for that supplier. Differences between MIL-Q-9858A and
ISO 9001 also pose some obstacles. The treatment of nonconforming
material, unrestricted access to quality records, second-tier source
verification, metrology requirements, and the delivery of drawings are
some areas where differences exist. These discrepancies may have to be
clarified by supplementary documents for DOD to adopt the ISO standards.
Factors favoring ISO acceptance Since February 1991, DOD has listed the
ISO 9000 (ANS/ASQC Q90) series in the DOD Index of Standards and
Specifications (DODISS). The Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) are
also being modified to allow a procurement to substitute ISO 9000
specifications for MIL-Q-9858A. However, accepting the ISO standard is not
the same as requiring it. DOD may begin gradually accepting third-party
audits in some situations, but will not go so far as to require them.
Requiring third-party audits would place too large a burden on small
businesses.
BOX:
What should a supplier do? While the conversion to the ISO standard will
be gradual, defense electronics suppliers should seriously think about
getting up to speed on ISO 9000 and evaluate the advantages of registering
for several reasons: 1. The adoption of the standard will happen eventually
and, in the interim, improving a supplier's quality assurance systems can
improve the way the supplier does business. 2. The need for multiple
audits by different customers will diminish when DOD and the defense
community start to accept ISO 9000 and third-party audits. In particular,
second-tier suppliers will benefit from the acceptance of third-party
audits. 3. Economic necessity may hasten adoption of the ISO standard
since third-party audits can save procurement agencies money. 4.
Registration to ISO 9000 will most likely be necessary to do business with
multinational prime contractors in Europe and elsewhere. 5. The process
of planning, implementing, and registering to the ISO 9000 series can take
one to two years. If a company is supplying electronic products to the
Department of Defense, or to prime defense and aerospace contractors, that
company had better start planning now for ISO 9000.
Advertisement
