What does it all cost?

We currently spend $2500 per year on our registrar ($7500 for a three-year contract which includes one registry audit and 5 maintenance audits). In addition, we spend about 16 person days of technical staff time and 22 person days of management time per year to maintain our ISO 9001 quality management system. Using our normal consulting rates to calculate the value of the time, it amounts to about $23000 per year, of which $2500 is an actual out of pocket expense.

The time required to manage the system is somewhat more than we predicted when we wrote the first article, but it is not a huge burden. Some of the management and staff time would be spent on quality releated issues whether we were registered or not.

Would we do it again?

Yes, we would. The standard has been good for business, the company runs better, and the spirit of the 1994 standard captures the essence of our commitment to quality. In the present world of constant change, we find that these standards provide a solid foundation on which to build an organization that can be as flexible as you want it to be. We have found no instance where our ISO registration has slowed us down in any way, nor has it prevented us from conducting our business as we wish.

Is it for everyone?

I've often heard company owners say that there is no business reason for becoming ISO registered. That may, in some cases, be true. The benefits to the organization should certainly outweigh the cost of implementing the new system. In my experience, however, many organizations that we deal with on a daily basis, particularly public institutions (universities, governments, cities, liquor boards, school boards) and large corporations (for example, utilities) would benefit greatly by operating on a ISO 9001 model. I'm sure that many of us would appreciate the customer focus that would emerge if more organizations adopted these standards.

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