When the U.S. Coast Guard merged units from four locations to form the Coast Guard Engineering Logistics Center, commanding officer Capt. Bill Wissman had to get more than 600 newly conglomerated employees to work as a team.
But the electronics engineers from Cape May, N.J., had one way of doing things, the workers from headquarters had their way of doing things, and the employees from the Baltimore and Curtis Bay, Md., supply centers had their own ways of doing things. Wissman needed to develop standards for the employees to follow so the center could consistently deliver good logistics, engineering and maintenance products and services to its customers.
The way to do that, Wissman decided, was through ISO 9000 certification.
ISO 9000 is a highly coveted registration among private companies--and a growing number of government agencies. ISO 9000 is an internationally recognized sign that an organization meets the highest standards of quality by consistently turning out excellent products and services. While Total Quality Management (TQM) is a self-policing initiative aimed at improving organizations' operations, ISO 9000 requires third-party certification that an organization meets quality standards. Once an organization earns ISO 9000 certification through an independent registrar, the registrar's auditors return to the organization every six months to make sure quality standards continue to be upheld.
"TQM is still alive and well at the Coast Guard," says Jim Lane, productivity program manager at the Engineering Logistics Center, in Baltimore. "ISO 9000 is the cornerstone to keep TQM going. It provides third-party discipline. That discipline made us get on line with standards a little bit quicker."
Organizations seeking ISO certification follow a few basic steps.
Logistics center managers wanted to move quickly to get their newly formed organization moving in the right direction. They started by defining all the products and services the center produces, from Coast Guard cutter platform and equipment configurations to depot-level repairs to logistics information systems support. Then the managers identified the processes it takes to get those products and services out the door to customers. The logistics center then culled those processes into a "quality manual," which documented more than 250 procedures and standards of operation.
Once the center developed and distributed its quality manual, managers conducted internal audits to see if every employee followed the documented procedures. The internal audits gave managers a gap analysis, which they then used to get everyone at the center to comply with the quality manual procedures. After the internal audits, the center selected Netherlands-based KEMA-Registered Quality to conduct third-party auditing and ISO registration. KEMA auditors conducted three practice audits to point out areas where the center did not consistently follow its quality procedures. This summer, after nine months on the quest for ISO 9000, the center received its certification.
"ISO 9000 registration will enable us to satisfy our customers' needs in an organized fashion," Lane says.
The registration also certified that the center met its commanding officer's initial goal: to standardize the work of employees coming from several locations.
ISO 9000 is a growing phenomenon in government agencies. NASA, for example, is requiring its contractors to obtain ISO 9000 certification. The Defense Department is also pushing its contractors to seek ISO 9000 registration. ISO 9000 third-party auditing requirements lift some of the contract oversight weight off agencies' shoulders, NASA and Defense say.
NASA is also requiring all of its centers to get ISO 9000 certification. A handful of Defense Department components, including several activities at the Army's Chemical and Biological Defense Command and the Rock Island Arsenal in Illinois have earned the certification. Three Coast Guard units are ISO 9000-certified. The General Services Administration's Office of Property Management received the certification last year, but lost it amid a change in leadership and a restructuring. Several government agencies are also seeking ISO 14000 registration, which covers environmental management standards.
Geneva, Switzerland-based International Organization for Standardization is the non-governmental body that provides guidance for ISO activities. Individual companies, like KEMA, certify organizations.
The Coast Guard's Engineering Logistics Center will have its first third-party follow-up audit in November. Lane says the ongoing audits inherent in ISO 9000 registration will help managers at the center ensure they run a quality organization.
"There are different degrees of opinions for the audits," Lane says. "We can either pass with flying colors, be issued a warning, or in the worst-case scenario, they can revoke our certification. With this kind of disciplined approach, we can make sure things don't slip."
NEXT STORY: EPA experiments with flexible approach