TEAM Zarate Tarrani Notes From the Field

ISO 9001:2000. Among Linda's recent topics are ISO 9001 and 900-3. There is a single sentence in the new ISO 9001:2000 requirements that's a bombshell: Customer perception, as to whether customer requirements have been met, shall be monitored. There is a book on this topic, Customer Satisfaction Measurement Simplified: A Step-by-Step Guide for ISO 9001:2000 Certification, that has as its sole purpose to provide you with ISO 9001-friendly techniques for meeting the requirements in that sentence. The author provides a clear, 7-step process for tackling that daunting task:

1. Identify your customers.
2. Identify their requirements. (Maps to ISO requirements 5.2, 7.2.1).
3. Determine what you're going to measure, and how.
4. Measure satisfaction based on step 3. (Maps to ISO requirement 8.2.1).
5. Analyze the data. (Maps to ISO requirement 8.4).
6. Report the results.
7. Communicate the results and employ continuous improvement methods. This complies with the change from the 1994 version in that continual improvement is now required, where it was only implied in the 1994 version.

What makes this book so valuable is that it reduces the complexities for meeting each of the requirements using the process to a series of steps in each process stage. Each chapter contains a summary of the goals, then gives step-by-step procedures needed to attain the goals, and identifies the deliverables that must be produced. This sounds simple on the surface. In reality implementing customer satisfaction requirements management, measurement and continuous improvement is a complex undertaking that not only touches virtually all parts of an enterprise, but also mandates a change in corporate culture.

Additional value in the form of worksheets and checklists covered in the appendices (and provided in electronic format on the CD ROM) make this book absolutely essential to any company that is pursuing certification (or are re certifying under the 2000 version).

Other factors that make this book invaluable include:

• The author's extensive experience in customer satisfaction management is condensed into this reasonably short book
• Layout of the book makes it easy to follow and find information
• The straightforward manner in which necessary information is presented.

This is the only book, to the best of my knowledge, that solely focuses on this aspect of ISO 9001:2000. Fortunately, it covers all of the essentials and leads you step-by-step through the process of meeting this important set of requirements. I personally believe that it's the key to getting certified under the 2000 requirements because of the scope and magnitude of effort that is required to comply with a seemingly innocuous requirement that can be a major barrier to achieving certification.