Surely you remember the tale of the emperor’s new clothes, a wonderful story filled with multiple quality training opportunities.

Last month’s SBGi on HSF column, “Now What?,” focused on the emergence of RoHS and WEEE as part of the global hazardous-substance-free (HSF) movement. This month, we’ll look at what has been happening in the electrical and electronics equipment industries and in the European Union related to RoHS and WEEE, and the lessons learned.

Blame is one of the most useless, albeit pervasive, reactions that surround problem solving.

I was recently asked to comment on the ISO 9001 requirements regarding external documents. My first reaction was to point out a distinctive subtlety in the actual text of the requirement.

This is the first of a series of articles intended to share with Quality Digest’s readers key aspects of the global movement toward hazardous substance–free (HSF) products and processes and how they affect organizations.

Don’t you love it when you go to the store and they have a “BOGO” sale? BOGO, as in buy one, get one. Who can resist the attraction of being able to get two things for the price of one?

I have long maintained that renumbering procedures from the defunct ISO 9001:1994 standard to reflect the numerical scheme of ISO 9001:2000 is an exercise of questionable value. After all, aren’t they just numbers? What difference can it possibly make if your purchasing procedure is numbered 4.6 or 7.4?

"For want of nail a shoe was lost
For want of a shoe a horse was lost
For want of horse a rider was lost
For want of a rider a battle was lost
For loss of a battle a kingdom was lost
And all because of a horseshoe nail."

A few months ago, I wrote about the importance of understanding your customers’ requirements. We looked at requirements that exceed the traditional scope of product specifications such as labeling, packaging and documentation.This month, we’ll take a look at how we communicate our requirements to our suppliers, which is the flipside of the customer-supplier relationship.

As an auditor, I have a hard time maintaining my composure when individuals tell me they’re unhappy with their registrar and yet have taken no action to address the matter.