60 second interview:
Nigel Croft
has been elected as the new chair of ISO/TC 176/SC 2, the subcommittee responsible for the development of ISO 9001 and ISO 9004.
In this interview he reveals his hopes for the future of the standards and where he will focus the subcommitee's plans for development.
How long have you been involved in quality management systems?
I’m one of those unusual people who has always worked in quality. I started my career with British Steel in the mid-1970s as an apprentice in the quality control department. Several years later, after completing my doctorate in metallurgy, I came back to quality while working for an engineering consultancy firm in Norway, with the responsibility for supplier evaluation.
In the mid-1980s our family-owned specialty steel company in Brazil was implementing a total quality management programme. In 1990 we were asked for certification to ISO 9002 to allow us to bid on some aerospace projects and, in my role as quality manager, I coordinated the process. That started a new chapter in my life, because my wife and I subsequently founded a consultancy company, helping other Brazillian organizations to implement ISO 9000-based systems.
When did you first become interested in the development of quality standards?
In 1994 I joined the Brazillian mirror committee to ISO/TC 176 and took part as an observer in the ISO/TC 176 plenary meeting in South Africa. At that time the 1994 revision of ISO 9001 had just been published and it was the very beginning of the planning of the big revision that took place in 2000.
What was your involvement with ISO 9001:2000?
In 1997 I was appointed to lead the ISO/TC 176 task group responsible for the implementation and transition to the 2000 version of ISO 9001. That involved working with the IAF and ISO/CASCO, the conformity assessment committee of ISO, to develop a strategic plan to ensure the smooth launch of the 2000 version. We knew it was going to be a major transition for many organizations and we broke new ground in working together. It was a real challenge, but a lot of fun. We all worked hard but we had some good times too.
What was your reaction to being nominated to become chair of ISO/TC 176/SC 2?
I was very honoured to have been nominated by BSI. John Davies, the retiring chair, will be a tough act to follow after his 25 years at the helm. I hope to be able to rise to the challenges we will face in the coming years as we strive to consolidate and improve ISO 9001 and ISO 9004's relevance as the most widely known standards in ISO's extensive portfolio.
What is most important for you to tackle in your new role?
It’s very early days but I want to revitalize pride in ISO 9000, where organizations can say they have ISO 9001 certification and it really means something. That’s not to say that it doesn’t mean something now but I believe that ISO 9001 has a much bigger role to play. Right now it’s punching below its weight as a management tool and as part of an overall management philosophy.
Another important development is to enhance the standard’s user-friendliness. I want to engage with the various industry sectors involved in implementing ISO 9001 and particularly with small businesses to find out how we can do this.
What is the future for ISO 9000 series?
One idea we are exploring is the possibility of trying to incorporate some kind of differentiation based on an organization’s business environment and the levels of risk and criticality associated with its products. For example, the risk associated with the products of a shop that sells office supplies is very small, while the risk for a manufacturer of aerospace components is very high. By trying to apply the same set of requirements to each of these situations, we may have become too generic in our approach.
One of the discussions I intend to start centres around creating different versions of the same standard, to address the different levels of criticality associated with an organization’s products. This does not mean a return to the old ISO 9001, 2 and 3 structure but something forward looking that provides organizations with a real option regarding the breadth and depth of the quality management system that they need to implement.
Organizations operating in low-risk situations could benefit from a ‘lighter’ version of the standard, while those in high-risk situations can follow a more stringent set of requirements. These are still preliminary ideas that will probably change as our discussions progress.
I’m also very committed to putting ISO 9004 back on the map as a useful management tool. If we can introduce some kind of differential within ISO 9001, we can then lead into the voluntary maturity model that already exists in ISO 9004. That would provide a natural progression through the various maturity levels and eventually encourage organizations towards quality award schemes and excellence models.
Finally, the work of ISO’s Joint Technical Coordination Group, which is looking at aligning the various management system standards, will also impact on the future direction of ISO 9001. We are all driving towards making things easier for organizations that choose to implement an integrated system by having a common structure, common elements and common wording wherever possible.
Dr Nigel Croft is the chair of ISO/TC 176/SC 2. He heads his own management consultancy business based in Brazil and is currently a lead consultant for the United Nations Industrial Development Organization. He is also a Fellow of the Chartered Quality Institute
